


Insidious

by Lexus (Beautiful_Ruin)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: D/s, Dirty Talk, Dom!Janeway, Dominant Janeway, Eventual Explicit sexual content, F/F, Janeway is firm but kind, Punishment, Slightly unhealthy dynamic but nothing too eggregious, Spanking, Submissive Seven, sub!seven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:42:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 74,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21826132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Ruin/pseuds/Lexus
Summary: Most insidious things start off innocent… or innocent enough. Captain Kathryn Janeway’s current conundrum was no different. She sipped her coffee and tried to concentrate on her work, but her eyes kept straying to the lithe blonde figure stood in the corner of her ready room. Seven of Nine. Part Borg, part human, all frustrating.
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Comments: 260
Kudos: 178





	1. Chapter 1

Most insidious things start off innocent… or innocent _enough_. Captain Kathryn Janeway’s current conundrum was no different. She sipped her coffee and tried to concentrate on her work, but her eyes kept straying to the lithe blonde figure stood in the corner of her ready room. Seven of Nine. Part Borg, part human, all frustrating.

Seven had been driving her to distraction trying to get permission to attend an away mission that Kathryn had no intention of letting her attend. After the fifth failed appeal, she’d had enough and marched Seven to the corner, telling her to stand still and shut up or she’d be spending the night in the brig.

It had been a half hour and so far Seven had stood quietly, not moving a muscle.

That should have been her first clue that the situation was less than innocent. She was almost finished going over the day’s reports when she heard a soft huff of air, but Seven still didn’t move.

“How long must I stand here, Captain?”

A shiver ran up Kathryn’s spine at the lack of haughtiness in Seven’s voice. There was always a hint of haughtiness, but this latest question had none. “Until I tell you otherwise,” she barked. “And I believe I ordered you to remain quiet.”

“Yes, Captain,” Seven mumbled, the words barely audible.

Kathryn chose to ignore her reaction to that and returned to her work. It was only another fifteen minutes before she finished reading the last report and shoved them all aside. She was grateful to be done, but now the situation with Seven weighed heavily on her mind. “All right. Come here, Seven,” she said, getting to her feet and rounding her desk to stand beside it.

Seven rolled tense shoulders and came to stand in front of her.

The adoring look in those light blue eyes was going to render her senseless one day. How long had that look been there? Longer than she’d realized it? As she watched Seven struggle to compose herself, she knew she was in trouble. Of the insidious kind. A hand reached out to tilt Seven’s chin up. “Do you understand why I made you stand there quietly?”

Seven’s eyelids fluttered and she leaned imperceptibly into the touch. “Because I displeased you.”

“That’s right… but more than that, I asked you repeatedly to drop the subject and you continued to bring it up. I was frustrated. I didn’t know what else to do with you short of confining you to your cargo bay or throwing you in the brig, neither of which appealed to me.”

“I am sorry, Captain,” Seven apologized, her voice a feathery caress to Kathryn’s ears. “I did not realize I was causing you to feel frustrated.”

Kathryn watched her lower her eyes and tilt her head slightly forward, and she knew she shouldn’t be thinking of Seven like this, but God help her, the submissive posturing was delicious. Certainly Seven didn’t mean it that way, but it was too late to douse the fire. “What are you thinking right now? Please speak freely.”

Seven’s jaw tightened and for a moment, no words came out. But then they did, and Kathryn half wished she’d never asked. “It distresses me to have displeased you, Captain. However, I do not fully understand my reaction to being made to stand in the corner for forty-seven minutes. I should be angry; offended that you would treat me like a child, yet I am experiencing no trace of anger. I am clearly malfunctioning. I enjoy being controlled by you.”

Kathryn’s breath whooshed out of her like a vacuum and refused to return. She held up a finger for Seven to give her a moment, closing her eyes in an attempt to regain control of her respiratory functions. It was not an easy task, but she was the captain. She managed. “Seven, you are not malfunctioning. Submission is a very human desire.”

“What is the recommended course of action?”

Of course Seven would ask like they were discussing repairs on the warp drive while Kathryn’s lungs were attempting to burn their way out through her chest. “Typically you would find another that enjoys controlling you.”

“My malfunction—my _desire_ —is limited to you, Captain. Do you enjoy controlling me?”

Kathryn’s eyes snapped to Seven’s, looking for any hint of manipulation or teasing, but of course there were none. It was a genuine question, not a leading one. “Oh my,” she breathed, tempted to cover her face with her hands, but she stood strong. Seven deserved as much honesty from her as she had been freely given. “I shouldn’t, but God help me, Seven, I do. Yes.”

“I fail to understand what help a deity can provide you with in this matter,” Seven glossed over the important parts of her confession.

That was exactly the diffusion of tension that Kathryn needed and she gave a soft laugh. “Dismissed.”

“Yes, Captain.”

***

Seven did not ask her about the away mission again. It came and went without fanfare, and things went back to what passed for normal on Voyager. Despite having confessed her own malfunction to Seven, she had not pursued the matter further. More than two weeks had passed, and Voyager was currently trapped in a nebula, in no immediate danger, but nerves were frayed. They had been trapped for five days and everything they tried was unsuccessful. B’Elanna had broken Carey’s nose again, Neelix had threatened to start poisoning the crew if they didn’t stop complaining about leola root, and even the usually amicable Harry Kim was on edge, snapping at people when he otherwise would not have. He made the mistake of snapping at her, and she was in the middle of dressing him down when Seven walked onto the bridge and chose that inopportune moment to complain about something.

“Captain,” she interrupted, unaware of everyone’s current state of ire. “Lieutenant Torres has rerouted power from astrometrics to—”

“Seven!” Kathryn barked, eyes wide with barely controlled frustration as she spun on the blonde. No words needed to be spoken as she pointed a finger toward one corner of the bridge and watched Seven’s eyes start to smolder.

The blonde’s jaw worked tensely for a moment, presumably in an attempt not to finish her complaint, and then she simply turned and followed the directive, walking to the indicated corner and placing herself in it, hands folded loosely behind her back.

Tom Paris spun around to face her. “Uh, Captain?”

“As you were, Mr. Paris!”

He blinked, likely at the hissing quality to her voice, and turned back to the helm. “Yes, Ma’am.”

She needed a few minutes of peace and quiet or she was going to end up obliterating her entire crew. “I’ll be in my ready room. Don’t interrupt me unless there’s a warp core breach,” she announced, starting across to the doors. “And don’t you dare move, Seven,” she snapped on the way past the blonde.

Fifteen minutes and a glass of whiskey later, Captain Kathryn Janeway was a much calmer woman. She returned to the bridge and took a seat in her chair, but made no move to let Seven out of the corner.

Finally when it came time for shift change and most of the bridge crew were in motion, she rose and walked over to lay a hand on Seven’s back. “Dismissed.”

***

They got out of the nebula the next day by flying every shuttle on board out, then using minimal thrusters while the shuttles all tractored Voyager out at once. It was barely successful, but no one cared about the margins, they only cared they were out of the damned nebula.

Over the next few weeks the crew got used to seeing Seven standing around in various corners of the ship at any given time, and they stopped commenting. Once she had to forbid Harry from trying to engage the Borg in conversation, but other than that, the unwritten rule was silently adopted by the masses. Even Naomi Wildman understood. If Naomi wanted Seven’s attention and Seven was in the corner, the girl simply sought her out and asked when Seven’s punishment would be over. It was actually quite endearing.

Things came to a skidding halt one evening in astrometrics when she ordered Seven to the corner for mischarting an anomaly.

“No.”

Kathryn blinked, turning stunned eyes on the Borg. “I beg your pardon?”

Seven stood straighter; at attention. “I believe you heard exactly what I said, Captain.”

“Seven, go to the corner right now,” she said, her voice gaining an edge.

Seven didn’t move. “I will not comply.”

Kathryn rolled her shoulders and regarded Seven for a moment, trying to chart her own anomaly. “Is it your intention to end this subunit of our relationship?” she finally asked.

She saw surprise and a flicker of self-doubt sweep across Seven’s face before the Borg cast her eyes to the floor. “No,” she said quietly. “I will go to the corner now, Captain.”

“Seven, wait,” Kathryn said, grabbing the woman’s arm before she could get very far. “State your intentions.”

She watched air fill Seven’s lungs, expanding her chest further than normal, and she realized that the Borg was trembling. “My intention was to provoke you to further action by being disobedient.”

Kathryn suddenly felt like she was suffocating, trapped under an immovable object. “What sort of action?” she miraculously managed to ask. Her voice was a shadow of itself.

“I am uncertain. Perhaps you would force me to comply. Perhaps you would restrain me. Perhaps you would strike me.”

Her hand inadvertently tightened around Seven’s bicep. The feeling of suffocation did not ease off. “Are those things you wish to be done to you, Seven?”

“Those are things I wish _you_ to do to me, Captain.”

“Once we cross that line, there’s no going back. Not for me.”

“Nor for me,” Seven agreed. “I wish to cross that line. I wish for you to force me across it.”

“Then you had damn well better not tell me no ever again, Seven of Nine.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Now go to the corner like I told you to.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Uh-uh,” Kathryn shook her head. “Call me Ma’am.”

She watched Seven fight off a shiver; watched the Borg’s head tilt slightly downward in deference. “Yes, Ma’am.”

She controlled her own outward reaction to a soft sneer while on the inside she was a mess of molten heat.

 _Insidious indeed_.


	2. Chapter 2

They were in astrometrics, Kathryn had to remind herself as she stared at the perfectly still woman in the corner. Seven hadn’t moved or spoken in an hour and she had to admire the self-discipline. She would never in a million years be able to stand still for that long. And without talking? Absolutely not. Her parents had tried it once. Her father had to hold her by the head while she writhed and kicked, and the whole thing had lasted about two minutes. But Seven… she endured the discomfort gracefully and humbly, and Kathryn was impressed. “All right, Seven,” she said softly. “Come with me.”

Seven turned and approached her without speaking, her stride less full of swagger than usual. Her steps were not quite hesitant, but they were definitely not assured.

When the Borg reached her side she laid a hand on Seven’s lower back and guided the woman out of astrometrics, heading for her private quarters.

Seven gasped when they came to a stop. “Captain, what—”

“First of all, you’re questioning me. Don’t,” Kathryn interrupted, giving Seven a look. “Secondly, I was very clear on what I want to be called.”

She watched pale cheeks dust with color and full lips part twice before getting words out. “I am sorry, Ma’am.”

Kathryn offered her a lopsided smirk. “You will be.”

Seven’s shudder was so pronounced that it was visible and she dropped her eyes to the floor. “Yes, Ma’am, I believe I will.”

Enough stalling. Kathryn stepped forward to engage the doors and they whooshed open. She urged Seven inside and removed her hand from the blonde’s back as the doors whooshed closed. “Computer, seal the doors to my quarters, authorization Janeway delta four.”

“ _Doors sealed_ ,” the computer chimed.

“Would you care for a drink?”

“You are aware that synthehol impairs my functioning,” Seven said with the slightest hint of annoyance.

Janeway pinned her with a scathing look and at the same time shot a hand out to grip the Borg’s chin between her thumb and forefinger, squeezing until she knew it would be painful. Mildly so, but painful. “If you’re going to be a smart ass I’ll restrict your speech to yes and no,” she hissed.

Seven instantly crumbled under the pressure, blinking back tears. “I am sorry, Ma’am.”

Kathryn regarded her for a moment and then released her. “On second thought, I think I do prefer ‘Captain’. Now let’s try that again, shall we? Would you care for a drink?”

She could still see the glistening of unshed tears as Seven replied quite differently. “No thank you, Captain.”

“Muuuch better,” Kathryn purred. “Have a seat.”

Seven started to sit on the sofa but she shook her head and the Borg paused, slowly standing back up.

“Let’s get something straight, my dear,” she explained, her voice still retaining a bit of a purr. “If I offer you a seat, you sit on the floor at my feet. Understood?”

Seven’s lips parted, her eyes flashing with that same smolder Kathryn had seen weeks ago on the bridge. “Yes, Captain,” she said with a brief nod, lowering herself to the floor, kneeling in front of her mentor and sitting back on her heels.

“Good girl,” Kathryn praised her, removing the pins from Seven’s hair and appreciating the way it tumbled free down her back. Not a person on the ship wasn’t envious of Seven’s hair, herself included. It always seemed to shine, even after they played velocity or the Borg returned from an away mission where she’d just been fighting to the death.

She tangled her fingers into the soft blonde hair once it was free, squeezing gently and massaging Seven’s scalp with her nails as she pondered how to proceed regarding the Borg’s disobedience. Should she fuck her from behind, hard and fast, choke her a little to remind her who was boss? The mere thought made her groin twitch, but it occurred to her that unless she had been especially discrete in an affair with a member of the crew, Seven was still a virgin. She couldn’t allow her Borg’s first time to be a punishment. So that was out. Making her scrub plasma coils was out as well, for the simple fact that it held no appeal to Kathryn. If she was going to punish Seven, she was going to do it in a way that pleased her.

“As much as I’d like to stand here for hours playing with your hair, we have the matter of your disobedience to deal with,” she announced when she felt Seven was getting too comfortable. She wondered if she’d get resistance.

“Yes, Captain,” Seven replied softly.

No resistance. That made things a bit easier. “I have considered several options and have decided I’m going to spank you. Do you know what that is?”

Seven’s eyes closed and Kathryn could only assume she was accessing her assimilation database. A nanosecond later they opened again. “Yes, Captain.”

Was it Kathryn’s imagination or had Seven just started breathing a little faster? And that was definitely a blush on her pale cheeks. “Very good. Face away from me on your hands and knees, please.”

Seven shifted until she was facing the doors, then leaned forward and placed her hands on the floor, her bottom lifting from its seat on her heels as she did so.

Not for the first time, Kathryn wondered what she had done so right to deserve Seven’s interest. She brushed the thought away and raked her eyes over Seven’s back, her perfect ass, her ridiculously unnecessary high-heeled shoes. Honestly, what had the doctor been thinking, putting her in shoes like that? Then it had just stuck. She supposed at the moment she was grateful, however, because right now they looked sexy as hell.

“Very good,” she said again, crouching down on Seven’s left side, placing a hand between finely sculpted shoulder blades and exerting pressure until Seven dropped down onto her elbows. That accomplished, she moved her hand to the back of Seven’s head and pressed until the blonde’s forehead was resting on the carpet. “If your forehead comes off this carpet, you’ll be in the corner until duty shifts tomorrow,” she whispered in Seven’s ear.

It was a second before she got a response, and that made her smirk. “Understood.”

“And I mean even once, Seven. You will stay down.” Her voice went low with warning, sounding like whiskey and smoke.

Seven’s fingers dug into the carpet. “Yes, Captain. I will stay down.” The waver in her voice spoke volumes.

She nodded and slowly got to her feet, trailing a finger across Seven’s back as she moved behind her, then took the Borg by the hips and lifted her backside a little higher. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn spanked her.

Seven’s intake of breath was so loud it echoed in her ears and the Borg jerked forward, but kept her forehead on the carpet. A second hiss of breath followed the first – no doubt the rug had scraped her skin.

Kathryn spanked her again.

The Borg’s ability to adapt must have kicked in already because she remained still and silent this time, with the exception of her quivering muscles.

Dispensing with the formalities, Kathryn laid her left hand on Seven’s lower back and began to really spank her. Hard; unyielding; just this side of impersonal. She spanked Seven with the intention of ensuring perfect obedience in the future. She spanked Seven until her hand ached and stung. She spanked Seven until the Borg began to cry.

It wasn’t anything theatrical. There was no screaming or begging her to stop. Just a slight shaking of tired shoulders and a quiet expression of pain. Kathryn found it as touching and beautiful as she found it incendiary. And not once had Seven’s forehead left the carpet. “Ohhh,” she soothed, running her hand over Seven’s back as she sat cross-legged on the floor, winding fingers into her hair. “Good girl. Come on now… up you go.” She tugged until Seven got the hint and lay her head in Kathryn’s lap, turning onto her side and curling up protectively.

There was nothing like having a woman that you’d just spanked to tears curled up beside you with her head in your lap. And for that woman to be Seven of Nine just made Kathryn’s emotions all the more powerful.

“Did I take my punishment admirably, Captain?” Seven asked with a little sniffle that pierced Kathryn’s heart.

“More than admirably,” Kathryn assured her, stroking fingers through her hair, letting the strands drift out of reach and then doing it again on repeat. “You took your punishment with nothing less than perfection, Seven, and I am so very proud of you.”

Seven’s hand came to rest on her ankle, the gesture clearly heartfelt but hesitant, at the same time she felt the Borg’s face hide against her calf.

“Why are you hiding?”

Seven’s voice came muffled. “I am uncertain.”

Kathryn’s lips twitched into a grin. “Well can I get you to look at me, please?”

Seven quickly swiped at her eyes before complying, turning her face slightly and lifting her gaze to Kathryn’s.

“That’s much better,” she said, gently wiping away the rest of Seven’s tears. “You’re so beautiful, Seven.”

Seven’s cheeks flushed a deep red, the muscles in her jaw visibly straining. Kathryn wasn’t sure if she was trying to force herself to speak or keep from speaking. “I do not know how to respond.”

“Don’t you?” One eyebrow arched down at the blonde.

Seven’s jaw muscles danced at that one and finally the Borg conceded defeat. “Thank you, Captain. I find you… I find you…” She was clearly struggling to define what she felt. Kathryn had _never_ heard her stutter. “I find you breathtaking,” Seven finally managed to say, the last word coming out breathless indeed.

Kathryn almost blushed, but that just wouldn’t do, and she narrowly managed to avoid it by shifting her focus before the compliment could sink too far in. “Let me get a dermal regenerator for your forehead. I’ll be right back.”

“Captain,” Seven said abruptly, halting her retreat before she even moved.

“Yes?”

“I would prefer to retain my wound. With your permission?”

That hit Kathryn like a wrecking ball but there was nowhere to run to hide her reaction, so she did her best to minimize it. Only the softest groan escaped. “The rest of the crew would not like it. Are you prepared for that?”

“I am prepared for any eventuality,” Seven said practically.

“Let me rephrase,” Kathryn snorted her amusement. “How are you going to feel when everyone’s staring at you and whispering behind your back?”

“I will feel uncomfortable, but righteous,” Seven said resolutely.

“Righteous?” Kathryn repeated, slightly impressed, giving a nod. “All right, then. Permission granted.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

They sat in silence for quite awhile, Kathryn absently continuing to play with Seven’s hair while her thoughts drifted. Seven lay still, remaining curled beside her, one hand staying on Kathryn’s ankle and the other arm pinned beneath herself because she was on her side. Kathryn could have stayed like that forever if her need to know Seven’s state of mind did not assert itself fully and suddenly. “What are you feeling?”

“My right arm is numb.”

Kathryn laughed, the sound unrestrained for the first time she could remember since taking command of Voyager. “No, I meant—” But Seven was already continuing.

“My… backside? Is that an appropriate term?”

She controlled her amusement. “It is.”

“My backside stings, Captain, and the skin there is still hot. There is also a tingling sensation because my nanoprobes are attempting to repair damage that does not exist. If nanoprobes were sentient, I believe they would be perplexed.”

Seven’s voice was soft and sincere so Kathryn forced herself not to laugh at the sentience comment. “What about here?” she asked, tapping the side of Seven’s head. “How are you feeling emotionally?”

Seven’s brows drew down and a frown crossed her face, lips pursing. “If I could uplink to your cerebral cortex you would understand what I am failing to put into words,” she said, the softness in her voice replaced by a sharp edge. “I do not know how to describe my emotional state. I find this quite distressing, Captain.” She began to shift uncomfortably though she made no move to get up. “I am unaccustomed to failure!” Her voice rose with every word.

“Slow down,” Kathryn said gently, giving a tug on Seven’s hair just in case her words didn’t get the agitated woman’s attention. “Slow down. It’s not a failure. Let me help you,” she continued. When Seven didn’t respond she took that as a sign to proceed. “I’ll name some emotions and you tell me whether or not you’re feeling them. All right?”

The blonde still shifted restlessly but answered. “Acknowledged.”

“Very good.” She went back to playing with Seven’s hair while she probed. “Are you feeling ashamed?”

“No.”

“Embarrassed?”

“No.”

“Regretful?”

“Only that I was disobedient. I do not regret being punished for it.”

“An important distinction,” Kathryn said with a nod. “Are you feeling confused?”

“No.”

Well that was good. “Aroused?”

“Specify.”

“Are you sexually aroused?”

“Specify.”

“Is there a tightness in your stomach?”

“Yes.”

“Are you warm between your legs?”

“Yes.”

“And maybe a little wet, too?”

Seven had stopped shifting during the questions but at that one she curled her knees tighter into her chest. “Yes.”

“Those are the basics. I think it’s safe to say you’re sexually aroused. Is that the feeling you were trying to name?”

“It is not.”

“Then I will proceed. Are you happy?”

Seven didn’t answer that right away and Kathryn could tell she was trying to figure it out. Maybe she was on the right track now. “I am not unhappy.”

“Hm.” That was an interesting way to answer. “Maybe more like content, then?”

“Yes,” Seven said, eyes snapping up to hers. “I believe your prompting has enabled me to order my thoughts. Do you still wish to hear them?”

“Very much so.”

“I feel content. I feel cared for. I feel… safe. And as we previously established, I feel sexually aroused. But I believe the feeling that overshadows the rest is belonging.”

Kathryn’s heart thudded in her chest. “Like you belong… with me?” she asked, not quite daring to hope.

“Yes, Captain. Is that unacceptable?” Inquisitive blue eyes found hers.

Kathryn couldn’t help a smile as she used one of Seven’s phrases. “I have no objection.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kathryn looked up from her desk as the ready room doors whooshed open and security dragged in Seven and B’Elanna Torres, both sporting shiners and split lips and torn clothing. “What in the hell?” she asked, rising to her feet and leaning forward, bracing her hands on the surface of the desk.

“Lieutenant Carey called for security and we found them brawling on the floor,” one of the ensigns informed her.

 _Jesus_. “Dismissed,” she told both of the security officers, and once they were gone she narrowed her eyes. “Somebody better explain this. Now.”

Seven said nothing, just snarled at B’Elanna.

B’Elanna bared her teeth in return but started speaking. “I asked her what happened to her forehead and why her nanoprobes weren’t repairing the damage.”

Kathryn waited a beat, but nothing else was forthcoming. “And?” she asked impatiently.

“And she didn’t answer, so I made a joke about kinky sex. She called me depraved and ignorant, and pushed past me, starting to override all the work I’d been doing this morning, so I shoved her out of the way.”

Again she waited. “And?!”

“She shoved me back, so I hit her.”

It was a ridiculous incident, but at least B’Elanna was talking. Seven was just standing there seething in silence, jaw clenched so tight it must have been painful. “Seven? Is that consistent with your view of the incident?”

Seven ignored her, staring past her at the wall behind her desk.

“Unless you want me to _show_ her exactly what happened to your forehead, you’d better speak up,” she barked.

Seven’s nostrils flared and her eyes finally locked on Kathryn’s. “I have no objection, Captain. Shall I—”

“Seven of Nine!” Kathryn shouted, ready to throttle her, not liking her bluff being called. “How about a trip to the brig? Would that jog your memory?”

Seven’s teeth ground but her eyes dropped, and Kathryn could see her sigh. “Yes, Lieutenant Torres’s description of the incident is consistent with my view.”

“Very well. Both of you report to sick bay, and when the doctor is finished treating you, you’re confined to quarters until 1800 hours. Dismissed.”

She could tell Seven wanted to argue, but mercifully both women left without further provocation.

Unmercifully, she was summoned to sick bay ten minutes later.

***

“Captain, please inform the doctor—”

“Quiet, Seven.” She looked to the doctor and waited for him to speak.

“Captain, she deactivated her nanoprobes.”

Now she looked to Seven. “Explain.”

“It was a temporary suppression. They will resume their normal function in twelve hours, forty-seven minutes and five seconds.”

The doctor did not seem pleased even then. “She allowed me to fix her bumps and bruises, except that one.” He pointed to Seven’s forehead.

“I wish to keep ‘that one’,” Seven said as if it should have been obvious. “That one is the reason I suppressed my nanoprobes.”

The doctor gave her a look that she interpreted as ‘HELP ME’.

“Give us a minute, Doctor,” she said with a nod to him. Once he was in his office she turned back to Seven. “I’ve had enough trouble out of you for one day. Sit still and let the doctor fix your forehead.”

“Captain, please…”

“You lost the right to keep your trophy wound the minute you went to blows with Lieutenant Torres.”

“Please,” Seven insisted. “It is important to me.”

“Not important enough to avoid behaving like a wild animal. The answer is no, Seven. I’ll have you restrained if necessary, but the abrasion is going.”

She signaled the doctor on her way out of sick bay, Seven’s dejected expression haunting her all the way back to the bridge.

***

Kathryn forced herself to stay away from cargo bay two until 1800 hours, the end of Seven and B’Elanna’s confinement and the end of her duty shift. She walked in to find Seven standing in the corner and her breath left her in one fell swoop. “Have you been standing there all day?” she asked in wonder.

“Yes, Captain.”

The little tart certainly knew how to get under her skin. “I didn’t direct you to the corner, Seven.”

“You were displeased with me and confined me to my quarters. This was my way of keeping you with me.”

Kathryn wasn’t sure if that was sweet or presumptuous. “Why did you behave that way to B’Elanna? What happened to ‘uncomfortable but righteous’?”

Seven spoke without moving from her self-appointed corner time. “I was not prepared for any eventuality,” she explained. “I had not considered how… protective I would feel of you and your reputation were I to be questioned about my injury.”

Apparently there was no limit to the amount of times Kathryn thought she knew what Seven was thinking only to have the Borg surprise the hell out of her. “Seven…” How to explain this? “My actions, my choices, they’re my responsibility, not yours. You don’t need to protect me. If I was worried about my reputation I would never have let you leave my quarters with that injury. I don’t want you getting in fights on my behalf even if that does make me feel somewhat exhilarated. Please don’t do it again. I strongly dislike confining you to quarters.”

“I strongly dislike it as well,” Seven replied, a telltale shake in her voice that Kathryn was learning meant she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. “I’m sorry for disappointing you, Captain.”

“We all make mistakes,” Kathryn assured her. “All I can ask is that you try to learn from each one and not repeat them.”

“I will try,” Seven promised.

“Very good,” Kathryn said, tugging on Seven’s arm to get her out of the corner and pulling her into a hug. She felt hesitant arms go around her and rest on her lower back. After a minute she pulled back and tapped her combadge. “Lieutenant Torres to cargo bay two.” She looked at Seven. “You’re going to apologize.”

Seven shifted to stand at attention. “Yes, Captain.”

A few minutes later B’Elanna stepped through the doors. “You called?”

“Seven has something to say to you,” Kathryn prompted when Seven didn’t respond.

Seven stood straighter if that were even possible and addressed B’Elanna. “The captain has instructed me to apologize. I am sorry for the misunderstanding this morning.”

Kathryn wanted to groan. You don’t tell someone you’re being forced to apologize! But this was Seven. She should have expected it and warned against it. “Seven was trying to protect me, Lieutenant,” she offered an explanation to her chief engineer. “I gave her that rug burn.”

“Rug burn? That’s what it was? What was her forehead doing on the—no. Don’t answer that. I’m good.” She held up her hands in surrender, then looked at Seven. “It’s fine. I’m sorry I hit you.”

Seven quirked her ocular implant and nodded.

When B’Elanna was at the doors, Kathryn spoke again. “The rest of the crew will find out eventually… but that doesn’t mean I expect this to become the topic of choice at dinner tonight. Understood?”

B’Elanna gave her a little smirk and a salute. “Aye, Captain.”

“Captain,” Seven protested as soon as the doors shut behind B’Elanna. “I do not wish to be the cause of the crew losing respect for you.”

“What did I tell you about my choices, Seven of Nine?” Kathryn asked gently. “My responsibility. If any member of this crew loses respect for me, you’ll have nothing to do with it. Am I clear?” She turned Seven’s face with a firm grip on her chin and didn’t think she’d ever get tired of the way the Borg leaned into her touch.

Seven breathed onto her palm, eyes closing as she answered. “Yes, Captain.”

“Mmm,” Kathryn purred, tightening her grip. “And besides… the sooner the crew figures out what’s going on, the sooner I can have you kneeling at my feet whenever and wherever I please.”

Seven’s eyes shot open and she turned quickly enough to catch Kathryn’s thumb in her mouth.

Kathryn thought her knees were going to buckle when the Borg started to suck. She pressed her thumb down on Seven’s bottom front teeth, slowly increasing the force until the Borg’s mouth opened. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, the question almost crooning in nature. Her thumb slid from teeth to tongue before she pulled it away entirely.

“Was that rhetorical?” Seven asked, eyelids fluttering.

“Rhetorically scolding,” Kathryn agreed. “That was a liberty you are not entitled to.”

“I’m sorry, Captain…”

The sincerity in Seven’s apology to her compared to the one given to B’Elanna a few minutes ago made Kathryn smile. “Try to behave,” she admonished.

Seven struggled obviously with that directive. “Yes, Captain.”

“I wouldn’t want to have to slap that pretty face.”

Anyone who didn’t know the Borg as well as she did would have missed the subtle reaction – a minute straightening of posture and a tightly clenched jaw that meant Seven was trying to suppress something. In this case Kathryn guessed it might be a shiver. When she got a response it was tremulous. “Yes, Captain.”

“Take your hair down and get dressed for dinner.”

“Dressed for dinner?”

“Specifically, put on a dress. A blue one. You may wear a bra but you may not wear underwear. No shoes, either. Prepare yourself to those specifications and come to my quarters.”

Seven was standing there with her jaw hanging open, uncharacteristically staring. Kathryn chuckled to herself, thrilled that she could get such a reaction from the Borg.

“Don’t keep me waiting,” she said as she slipped out of the cargo bay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit more intense D/s than previous chapters so please be warned if that's not your thing.

Kathryn returned to her quarters for a quick shower, combed her wet hair up into a bun, then slipped into a pair of slacks and a purple blouse and replicated some barbecue chicken (mild barbecue sauce for Seven’s sensitive stomach, of course). She didn’t bother with side dishes; Seven couldn’t eat that much in one sitting. She set the table and took a seat, waiting for her guest to arrive.

The captain was just starting to get a touch impatient, hand poised to tap her combadge, when her doors chimed. She let her hand fall to her lap and called out, “come in.”

The doors parted to reveal Seven of Nine in haunting detail. She had chosen the perfect dress – a halter style, deep blue, coming to just above the knee, and it sparkled. Kathryn had never seen anything so radiant as Seven in that moment, hovering in the doorway, unmindful of her own beauty as she took a hesitant step into the room on bare feet. Her gorgeous hair hung loose down her back, unfettered by its usual bindings, and her ocular and zygomatic implants had been colored the same sparkling blue as her dress. How was that even—and Seven was wearing makeup.

Kathryn wanted to toss her to the floor and fuck her, right then, right there. Instead she hid all traces of her reaction and stood from the table, approaching the blonde and leaning up to kiss her cheek. “You look lovely,” she complimented, sliding a hand over Seven’s lower back to guide her to the table.

“I asked Lieutenant Torres to assist me,” Seven blurted out suddenly as they reached the table.

Kathryn chuckled, a deep sound from low in her throat, and smoothed her hand down over Seven’s bottom to make sure she wasn’t wearing underwear. “Good girl,” she said when she felt none, giving one cheek a gentle pat.

Seven blushed. It made her even more beautiful.

“Are you nervous?” Kathryn asked as she urged her date into a chair and pulled her own right up next to it, sitting as well.

“Yes,” Seven answered without preamble. “The feeling is… unsettling.”

Kathryn grinned, trying not to look too predatory, but most likely failing if Seven’s expression was any indication. She looked like she might be sick any minute.

“I’ve replicated some barbecue chicken for dinner. The sauce is extra mild so you shouldn’t have any problems.”

Seven still looked like she might become sick. “Thank you, Captain.”

Kathryn wondered if the doctor had covered table manners in one of his social lessons because Seven took her napkin and draped it across her lap. “What a polite little thing you are,” she crooned, reaching a hand out to brush a thumb back and forth over Seven’s jaw, enjoying the continued flush to the blonde’s cheeks. “Would you like some whiskey?”

Seven’s eyes flashed but she quickly seemed to realize it was a test and settled. “No thank you, Captain.”

Kathryn smirked and raked her nails across the younger woman’s jaw, following the path her thumb had taken. Seven shivered under the touch and she gripped her chin, hard but brief, forcing herself to let go and return her hand to her own space. For a moment. “Water, perhaps?”

“Yes, please.”

She nodded and got up, replicating herself and Seven each a glass of water, then returned to her seat and set one in front of her guest and one behind her own plate.

“Thank you,” Seven said, moving the glass behind her plate and picking up her silverware. “Shall I commence eating?”

“You shall,” Kathryn nodded again. She cut her chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside her knife to free her left hand. She let Seven take a bite before she casually took a piece into her mouth herself and laid a hand on Seven’s knee.

Seven shifted but said nothing and went to cut a second slice of meat.

Kathryn put her hand up Seven’s dress and teased her thighs with gentle fingertips. “Eat,” she said quietly when Seven’s hands froze mid slice.

She could see the struggle as Seven began moving the knife again, the metal of it clanking against the plate repeatedly with the force of the trembling in the Borg’s right hand. When she accomplished the cut, the knife clattered to the table and a more steady left hand speared the meat with her fork, bringing it to her lips.

Kathryn wondered if the Borg technology on her left hand made it easier to control. It was an interesting thought. She shook it off and brushed her nails up and down Seven’s thighs, taking turns with each, biting her cheek to keep from grinning when those thighs parted to accommodate her. “Eat,” she said again, less quietly this time, when Seven had swallowed and not reached for another bite. She speared her own piece as if she weren’t doing anything untoward under the table and popped it into her mouth. “Don’t make me tell you again, Seven.”

She could hear the subtle grinding of Seven’s teeth as the Borg reached for the fork and knife, having about as much luck holding steady as the last time, struggling to cut her chicken. Even her left hand shook now. Kathryn counted that as quite a victory.

Containing a wicked smirk to a gentler smile, Kathryn moved her hand higher and feathered the tip of one finger between Seven’s legs, a fleeting touch, but it came away wet.

Seven gasped and dropped her fork, gripping the edge of the table so hard that her left hand put a crack in the surface.

Thank God for replicators because if Seven cracked the table over _that_ , her quarters were bound to be full of rubble when things progressed.

Kathryn stood and picked up Seven’s plate, setting it a few feet away on the floor, then hauled the blonde out of her chair and twisted her arms behind her back, holding her by the elbows. A well-placed nudge with one boot sent Seven down to her knees and Kathryn released her arms as she pushed forward so the Borg could catch herself.

The result was a gasping and winded Seven of Nine on her hands and knees.

“Since you seem to be having trouble with your hands, you can now eat without them,” Kathryn said in her ‘displeased captain’ voice.

She watched Seven’s chest heave as the blonde shuddered breaths in and out, and she had never seen the Borg so uncomposed. She waited to see if Seven would draw a line, but it didn’t come. She could hear the air wheezing in and leaving in a harsh staccato and she had to admit the lack of composure was utterly delicious.

Stomach tight, she leaned down and smacked Seven’s ass. “If you want to get up off that floor any time tonight, I suggest you finish your dinner.”

“Yes Ca—Yes, Captain,” Seven stammered, slowly bending her elbows and sinking her teeth into the meat.

Kathryn squeezed her thighs together as she watched Seven gnaw at the chicken, a delicately animalistic paradox. Seven made it look elegant even though the barbecue sauce smeared on her face and matted in her hair. Kathryn couldn’t have been more thrilled with the Borg if she tried. When she was satisfied that Seven would behave, she re-took her seat and picked her napkin off the floor, placing it on the table beside her plate, and then worked on her own dinner.

Seven finished a few minutes after she did and she called the younger woman over. “Stand up and come here.”

Seven complied on visibly shaking legs, and she was a mess. Both figuratively and literally. But she had managed not to get any sauce on her dress.

“Good girl,” Kathryn said kindly, snaking an arm out to wrap around the Borg’s waist and seat her date on her lap. She picked up her discarded napkin and dipped it in her water glass, then proceeded to clean every bit of sauce from Seven’s face, going back for more water before doing the same to that soft, silky hair. “Next time I expect you to have better focus and not end up on the floor, am I clear?”

Seven looked like she was about to cry. “Yes, Captain. It was not my intention to—I was unaware that I—I feel… shame at failing to follow your directive,” she said, blue eyes wide and watery and trained on Kathryn’s softening gaze.

A little piece of her heart broke and she tossed the napkin aside, smoothing her hands over Seven’s cheeks and tangling fingers lightly in her hair. “Oh, honey,” she fussed, pulling Seven in closer and finally allowing herself to kiss the trembling woman. It was chaste; sweet; just a brief press of their mouths together to convey things that couldn’t be expressed with words. “There is no room for shame here, Seven, unless you deliberately do something you know would upset me. Being unable to comply sometimes is a part of life, and you learn from it. Please don’t be ashamed, my sweet girl…”

A single tear escaped and slid down Seven’s face, her eyes closing at the kiss and at the words of comfort that followed. “You are not ashamed of me?”

“Never,” Kathryn promised. “I _enjoy_ punishing you, Seven. I don’t do it because I’m ashamed of you.”

The blush returned full force to Seven’s cheeks and she ducked her head to hide her face in Kathryn’s neck. “I enjoy it as well, Captain.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” Kathryn purred smoothly, pressing her lips to the side of Seven’s head. 

“Somehow my shame surfaced after my punishment ceased, when you sat me on your lap and scolded me, Captain, and it did not interfere with the enjoyment of being punished. I do not understand the timing.”

“I’m pretty sure that can be chalked up to adrenaline. When you’re in the heat of a moment your endorphins are flowing and they tend to be very powerful, pushing out all other emotion until things calm and they are allowed to subside. Does that make sense?”

Seven shifted in her lap and nodded against her. “I believe so, Captain.”

“Are we on the same page now? No more feeling ashamed of yourself? I want you to feel free to fail, knowing I will take care of it and teach you better for the next time.”

“I dislike failure,” Seven muttered against the skin of her neck. “But we are on the same page, Captain, yes.”

“Embarrassment is okay,” Kathryn thought to add. “I might embarrass you with a directive or a punishment. Are you aware of the difference?”

“I believe embarrassment can heighten an experience and shame can detract.”

“That is an excellent way to put it,” Kathryn considered. “And on that subject, if I ever put you in a situation that detracts from your experience I need you to tell me. Very clearly. Or if a proposed situation is likely to detract from your experience, tell me that as well, ahead of time.”

“Yes, Captain. Although now that we have established an inequality between failure and shame I do not believe there will be a situation to which I would object.” Seven was no longer hiding her face but she kept her head resting on Kathryn’s shoulder and Kathryn was loathe to end it.

So she didn’t. They just sat there in comfortable silence, both lost in their own thoughts for quite some time.

Finally she turned her face to kiss Seven’s head again and spoke. “There is a matter we need to discuss.” Seven started to rise from her lap but she wrapped her arms around the blonde and held her there. “A personal matter; you may stay where you are.”

She felt the Borg settle back down, head returning to her shoulder, and the position was quickly becoming her favorite.

“This may be one of those things that embarrasses you and it may not. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important, but I need to know what type of sexual experience you have, if any.”

Seven did not seem bothered by the question. She didn’t tense up, at any rate. “My experience has not progressed beyond kissing, Captain. I once attempted to pleasure myself but did not see the appeal and the experience lasted for only thirty-seven seconds.”

 _Did not see the appeal_. Kathryn almost laughed. “We’ll revisit that last one plenty of times, my dear, and I assure you the appeal will become quite clear.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Are you attracted to me, sexually?”

Seven’s breath rushed out against her neck and she shivered, squeezing the Borg tighter. “To a degree I would not have believed possible without firsthand experience,” finally came the airy reply.

Kathryn’s jaw worked as she swallowed down predatory urges. “The feeling is mutual.”

They were quiet a few more minutes and this time Seven broke the silence. “May I tell you something, Captain?”

“Of course,” Kathryn replied, immediately intrigued.

“While I stood in the corner waiting for my confinement to end, I occupied my time with recurrent thoughts of you.”

“Oh?”

“I imagined you coming to my quarters and spanking me again, Captain,” Seven said, her voice quiet but not quite shy.

“Oh…” Now Kathryn’s voice was a low purr. “I see. You fantasized about being spanked for eleven hours?”

“Eleven hours, ten minutes and fifty-two seconds,” Seven clarified.

“I can most assuredly oblige if you’d like another spanking, Seven. Or did you think about it for so long that it lost its appeal?” she teased.

“I do not think it possible for anything involving you to lose its appeal, Captain. You take my breath, and I am—I _was_ Borg. That is quite an accomplishment.”

“Is that a little arrogance I hear there, Miss former Borg?”

“No,” Seven assured her. “Merely a veiled compliment.”

Kathryn laughed and her lips found Seven’s, parting them with her tongue and issuing an irrevocable claim.

Seven’s eyes widened in response but quickly drifted closed, her mouth going slack to allow Kathryn to dominate the kiss.

And Kathryn did. Her hands went up to thread through blonde hair, holding Seven’s head in place as her tongue swiped through warmth and softness and over the sharpness of teeth. She kissed Seven until she heard a whimper against the force of it, Seven’s hands gripping her hips with desperate intensity as they both breathed through their noses to avoid having to separate.

Seven was so pliable, it was driving Kathryn crazy. She returned the kiss, she wasn’t idle, but the way she kissed back was submissive; respectful; reverent. At any pressure from Kathryn’s tongue she retreated and allowed her captain to do as she pleased. Kathryn had never enjoyed a kiss this much in her life.

They both sat panting softly with their foreheads pressed together when they finally stopped kissing. “Jesus Christ.”

“The few kisses I have experienced previously did not prepare me for this, Captain,” Seven whispered, still trying to catch her breath.

Kathryn had to agree. “How about that spanking now?” she rumbled.

“Please,” Seven gasped.

“Over my lap,” Kathryn instructed.

Seven turned herself around so she was draped over Kathryn’s lap, placing her palms flat on the floor.

Kathryn smoothed her hand over Seven’s backside and down to the hem of her dress, taking it between thumb and forefinger and slowly dragging it up to reveal the naked skin beneath. Seven’s ass was literal perfection. She pulled the dress up far enough to let it rest across Seven’s lower back, holding in a groan as her hand returned to bare skin, rubbing in gentle circles. “This is not a punishment, though it may feel like one,” she announced.

“Understood, Captain,” Seven replied, voice breaking.

Kathryn wasted no time laying into her, palm connecting solidly with one cheek, then the other, back and forth with musical precision. She relished the sound, the feel, the sight of each smack. Last time had been about teaching Seven a lesson. This time was pure indulgence. Last time she had hit hard and merciless, never giving Seven a chance to breathe. This time she paused after every few slaps, raking her nails up and down pale thighs or giving the Borg’s ass gentle squeezes.

Seven’s responses were nothing short of astounding. She squirmed across Kathryn’s lap, kicked at the floor, wrapped her hands around Kathryn’s left calf and gripped to bruising, but Kathryn’s favorite things were the noises she made. Whimpers. Moans. Groans. And every so often she said things like ‘more’ or ‘please’ or ‘Captain’ that turned Kathryn’s stomach into a pit of raging fire. Seeing Seven so unhinged was the single most staggering thing she could ever have imagined. She wasn’t sure she’d survive the sight with her own dignity and authority intact.

Seven’s skin was bright red, heat radiating from her punished bottom by the time Kathryn started to wind down. The slaps became slower; less intense, and she worked Seven slowly from the outskirts into the eye of the storm, calming them both. Her own hands trembled as Seven lay crying across her lap, and she rubbed the inflamed skin with the gentlest of touches while her left hand skated up the Borg’s back and into her hair.

“Come here, pretty girl,” she whispered, giving a light tug on the hair she’d enclosed in her fist.

Seven lost her balance trying to push herself up and Kathryn quickly grabbed her, not letting her fall. She pulled the younger woman to sit in her lap again, urging Seven’s arms around her neck.

Seven didn’t need much encouragement and Kathryn felt herself encircled in the Borg’s embrace, the skin between her neck and shoulder wet with Seven’s tears. She put a hand to the back of a blonde head, holding tight. “Such a good girl,” she praised, nuzzling Seven’s temple with her nose. “Your tears are a precious gift.”

Seven curled closer and whimpered, but Kathryn felt an appreciative little kiss to the side of her throat.

“Let’s sit just like this until we both calm down, hmm?” she hummed, the hand not on Seven’s head moving to rub her back.

A good fifteen minutes later she realized Seven had fallen asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

“Oh my,” Kathryn said to herself, her heart beating a little faster as she looked at the sleeping woman. Seven had to have quite the amount of trust to allow herself to fall asleep in Kathryn’s lap.

Realistically, she couldn’t carry Seven to bed, so she sat and let the blonde sleep until her legs started to go numb. Even then she was hesitant to wake the sleeping beauty, but a gentle kiss did the job.

Seven stirred, tired blue eyes fluttering open, and returned the kiss. “Did I fall asleep, Captain?”

“Mhmm,” Kathryn confirmed, tucking some hair behind Seven’s ear. “I didn’t want to wake you but it’s time to move this party to the bed. I’m exhausted.”

Seven removed herself from Kathryn’s lap and stood at attention. “Good night, Captain. Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“Oh?” Kathryn asked, eyebrows quirking. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Cargo bay two, I presumed… you stated you wish to retire.”

“I wish to retire with you, my dear,” Kathryn clarified, slowly getting to her feet and stretching her sore muscles. “Let me inform you of the rules regarding my bed. I suggest you memorize them immediately.”

Seven shivered visibly and gave a slight drop of her chin to indicate acknowledgement, then followed Kathryn to the bedroom.

“Rule number one. You do not occupy my bed unless I invite you into it.” She looked at Seven to make sure she was hearing and understanding.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Rule number two. If I do invite you into my bed, I expect you to enter it naked.”

Seven’s nostrils flared but she nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

“Rule number three. While you are in my bed, you may not touch me without permission.”

Another nod, this one a bit more hesitant, but again, Seven answered. “Yes, Captain.”

“Rule number four. You may not leave the bed without permission.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Rule number five; the last one. When you leave my bed, I expect you to make it perfectly before you get dressed and leave my quarters. What I mean by perfectly is that if I inspected your work, the bed would appear to not have been slept in at all.”

Seven’s mouth opened slightly at that one and she just stood staring at Kathryn.

“Understood?” Kathryn asked, unimpressed with the delay.

“Yes, Captain,” Seven said in a rush of breath.

“Very well. Get in bed.”

She watched as metal and flesh worked together to remove the gorgeous blue dress. Seven held the garment in her hands, hesitating as she looked around.

“Put it on the lounger,” she directed, waving at her chair on the other side of the room.

Seven’s bottom was still tinged pink from the spanking and Kathryn’s eyes never left it as the Borg walked across the room to deposit the dress. She could tell Seven was shy on her way back to the bed, a blush on her face and her steps much quicker than in the opposite direction. Perfect breasts and hardened nipples disappeared beneath the sheets as Seven climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to her shoulders.

“No bra,” Kathryn noted aloud. “I approve. Do you know what I don’t approve of, however?”

Blue eyes blinked at her as Seven’s expression became sheepish. “I believe so, Captain.”

“Then correct the situation.”

“I… have never been naked in front of another human,” Seven confessed softly as she inched the blankets back down, stopping at her chest.

“Keep going,” Kathryn encouraged, twirling a finger at the blankets. “All the way off, Seven.”

Seven shut her eyes as she pushed the blankets the rest of the way off, and Kathryn could see her fingers twitching toward her breasts with the urge to cover them.

“You are exquisite,” Kathryn whispered, scooting closer and leaning up on one elbow so she could look down at the Borg. “Every part of you is perfection.”

“My implants—”

“Are unique and intensely pleasing to look at.”

“But—”

“I have never laid eyes on a specimen more appealing,” Kathryn interrupted again. “Keep quiet now and behave yourself.”

Seven looked a little stunned at the directive but sheepishly nodded.

“I intend to spend the next ten minutes describing the way I view every part of your body and what I want to do to each one… and I expect you to lie still and keep your mouth shut. Acknowledged?”

Seven was definitely stunned that time and the nod came with slightly widened eyes.

“Very good. I’ll start with your hair.” She put her free hand on her own hip to keep it from wandering. This was supposed to be an exercise in verbal stimulation while employing great strength of will to avoid turning it physical. “The color of it reminds me of home… though it’s more vibrant than the piles of hay I used to roll around in and much softer. I love touching your hair, Seven, in any way. Running my fingers through it, watching the strands fall back to your shoulders… taking it in my fist and yanking to get your attention… petting my hand across it to soothe you after a scolding or a spanking… pressing my mouth to the side of your head, the softness tickling my lips…”

Seven was staring at her like a proverbial deer in headlights, chest rising and falling a little more rapidly than usual. Good. Her words were having an effect.

“Your neck. Perfectly sculpted and smooth until you tense your jaw and then I can see the corded muscles straining to hold in whatever you’re trying to keep from me… I want to sink my teeth into the skin of your throat and mark you as mine; a dark purple bruise, and then I want to lick the hurt away and kiss it better while you whimper under the assault…”

Seven’s mouth was open now, just barely, her chest heaving more pronounced than before.

“Your shoulders, Seven, the way you hold them back when you think you’re winning an argument and hold them back further if you think you’re losing… I want to dig my fingertips into them and use the leverage to push you down to your knees. Your arms, they’re so strong… you could snap me in half without breaking a sweat and the fact that I know you’d never do it turns me on. Your hands are just as strong, but they’re elegant. The metal on your left hand is impossibly sexy. I can’t even explain that one, but looking at it, feeling it, imagining you touching me with it makes me wet… and earlier this evening when I made your hands shake at dinner… Seven, I thought I was going to _come_.”

Seven opened her mouth to say something but forced it shut, jaw working tensely, the muscles in her neck straining just like Kathryn had described. It was glorious. She was the only one on the ship that could get Seven to be quiet, and that fact definitely went to her head. And straight between her legs.

“Your breasts are mouth watering, my dear. The perfect size with perfect nipples that practically beg to be sucked. And oh my, do I want to suck them. I want to trace the outline of each breast with the tip of my tongue until your nipples are hard as diamonds. I want to pinch them until you can’t keep still or quiet and then punish you for making noise…”

Seven looked like she wanted to make noise right then, but she didn’t. The only sound coming from her was her harsh, rapid breathing in and out through her nose. Her eyes looked a bit glassy to Kathryn and that only fueled her fire.

“Your stomach is flat and muscled, accented by your abdominal implant in a most aesthetically pleasing way. The symmetry of the metal arches is breathtaking and I want to kiss my way along each one separately from base to tip and then dip my tongue into your belly button and make you shiver as I move my mouth to your angled hips and mark you there.” She paused to sit up and moved down to flank Seven’s right ankle. “Spread your legs.”

A flush descended on Seven’s face without mercy and she hesitated too long.

Kathryn’s palm came down with a resounding slap to the Borg’s right thigh. “I told you some directives might embarrass you. Now do as I asked and spread your legs.”

Seven gasped, a hand starting to reach for the offended skin but she wisely pulled it back and eased her legs the slightest bit open.

Kathryn was annoyed. “You are this close to being—” She stopped when she saw Seven’s bottom lip quivering and gentled her approach. “Do you need me to help you, honey? You can speak for a moment. Tell me what’s going through your head.”

“I have never…” Seven started, her voice a shadow of its usual self, the near-arrogant confidence vanished. “What if—what if you—are displeased with my performance?”

Of course Kathryn melted, but Seven didn’t need to know that. “Right now there is no performance. All I’m asking is for you to spread your legs and continue listening to me speak. There will be no touching; no expectation for you to reciprocate.” She moved closer to let her face hover a few inches above Seven’s. “I just want to see your pretty little cunt and talk to you about it.”

She felt the bed shift as Seven’s hips twitched and resisted the urge to kiss her. She had just gotten through saying no touching and she wanted Seven to trust her.

“Are you going to comply? You may answer.”

Seven’s eyes closed and she gave the subtlest of nods. “Yes, Captain.”

“That’s my girl,” Kathryn purred, moving back down to sit beside Seven’s ankle. She had to fight for control of her own breathing as the blonde’s knees slowly parted and everything she wanted to see was revealed to her piercing gaze. She stifled a moan of appreciation in favor of baring her teeth in a predatory fashion. “Wider.”

Seven complied.

“Very good,” Kathryn husked, tongue sliding out to wet dry lips. “Your cunt is as perfect as the rest of you, Seven…”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Seven grip fistfuls of the fitted sheet. That was a good use of the Borg’s hands.

“Soft and feminine… like a labyrinth waiting to be mapped, and right now it’s open for me and I can see that you’re _wet_.”

The sheet tore under the pressure of Seven’s left hand, leaving a tattered hole, and Kathryn reassured her before she could panic.

“Don’t worry about the sheet. Keep focused on my words and my voice. Someday soon I’m going to have my head between your legs, Seven, licking until you can’t stand any more and you beg me to stop… I’m going to have my fingers buried inside you, hitting spots you never knew existed because they’re not listed in any anatomy texts… I’m going to rub your clit and make you _come_ , Seven, in my mouth and all over my hand. The idea of tasting your cunt has been driving me crazy for longer than I care to confess. Would you like to feel my tongue someday? You may answer.”

Seven was panting lightly, her eyes shut tight. “Yes C—yes, Captain,” she said on a shaky exhale. “Please…”

“Not tonight,” Kathryn said, shaking her head, biting her lip at Seven’s answering whimper. “But you may touch yourself if you like.”

Seven’s eyes flew open along with her mouth. “What?”

“Still don’t see the appeal?”

“I—I don’t know,” Seven replied, staring at her half in awe and half in horror.

“It’s not a directive, my dear,” Kathryn clarified, crawling up beside her and pulling the blankets over them both. “Merely an option. Let me know your decision.”

“I do not wish to touch myself, Captain,” Seven said a bit tightly, causing Kathryn to snap her gaze to the Borg’s.

“Your tone is unwelcome,” she informed the near-petulant woman in her bed.

“I know no other tone with which to convey frustration,” Seven said more matter-of-factly.

“Is that so? Well by all means, if you’re frustrated with me, feel free to return to cargo bay two and regenerate alone instead of sleeping here with me.”

“That is _not_ what I meant,” Seven said agitatedly, turning onto her stomach and pulling her pillow over her head.

Kathryn really could not believe she was laying in bed witnessing a Borg tantrum, she just really could not. If it wasn’t so unexpectedly endearing she would kick Seven out of bed. But she knew this was a struggle. It was new; uncharted, so to speak. “Seven of Nine,” she said, carefully keeping the amusement out of her voice but allowing the affection to bleed through. “Come over here.” She held out her arms.

A teary face emerged from under the pillow and Seven rolled to face her, moving into her arms. “I am sorry, Captain.”

“It’s all right,” Kathryn shushed her, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead. “I know it’s a lot to ask. But you did very well for the most part and I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, Captain. I do not feel I deserve your pride, but it—” She stopped for a second, just breathing, and then continued. “I believe it makes me content.”

Kathryn gave her a lopsided smile and squeezed her closer. “Having you here with me makes me content. I’m glad you don’t want to go back to your cargo bay.”

“I would always choose to stay with you, Captain, if it were my decision.”

Kathryn’s heart skipped a beat. “Even if the choice was to return to your cargo bay and regenerate or to stand in the corner of my quarters all night while I slept?”

“Yes, Captain.”

 _Well, fuck_.

“Shall I go to the corner now?”

“No, no,” Kathryn rushed to assure her. “That was just an example. No, don’t go anywhere.” She gave Seven a protective squeeze. “You stay right here in my arms and sleep.”

She felt Seven nod against her chest. “Yes, Captain. Good night.”

“Good night, Seven.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Captain. Captain!”

Kathryn woke with a groggy moan and rubbed her eyes, blinking the sleep out of them as she turned to stare at Seven. “Yes?” she asked, unimpressed.

“I must use the restroom.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Well what the hell are you telling me for?”

“Rule number four. Do not leave the bed without permission,” Seven said quietly.

It shouldn’t have been possible to become instantly aroused while still half asleep, but that did it. “Go to the bathroom, Seven,” she mumbled. “Thank you for following the rules.” She was back asleep again before Seven even left the bed.

***

The next time she woke up it was to her alarm and she reacted just as poorly, slamming her hand on it to quiet it and rolling onto her stomach with a groan. “Seven,” she said, voice muffled by her pillow. “Replicate me some coffee.”

“Yes, Captain.”

She felt the bed shift and heard Seven order the drink. Black, just how she liked it. A moment later the mug was set on her nightstand and she rolled onto her side to retrieve it. “Thank you, my dear. Back in bed for a few more precious minutes.”

“Yes, Captain.”

She sat up slowly and sipped her coffee as Seven slipped back under the sheets, and as the warm, robust liquid slid down her throat, the thought most prominent in her mind was ‘I could get used to this’.

When she finished her coffee she put the mug back on the nightstand and climbed out of bed with a sigh, walking around to the other side and leaning down to give Seven a good-morning kiss. “I’m going to shower before my shift. You may leave the bed whenever you’re ready and I’ll see you later.”

Seven chased her lips as she retreated and a little chuckle wound its way out. “Yes, Captain,” the blonde said rather breathlessly.

***

When she got out of the shower fifteen minutes later Seven was gone and the bed was in pristine condition. Seven had smoothed out every wrinkle and tucked in every corner and it made Kathryn smile. She made quick work of drying her hair and getting into her uniform and headed for the bridge. “Status, Mr. Kim?” She had given him the night shift for a few weeks to help him build command experience in the least dangerous manner possible.

“Absolutely nothing happened during my shift, Captain,” Harry informed her as he vacated the captain’s chair, “with the exception of Voyager continuing on course.”

“That sounds terribly boring,” she said, taking a seat.

“I played cards,” Harry said with a shrug. “The bridge is yours, Captain.”

“How kind of you.”

“Hey, so how did Seven get a rug burn on her forehead?”

She didn’t so much as look at him, though her lips twitched into a smirk. “Dismissed, Mr. Kim.”

“Aye, Captain.”

She tapped her combadge. “Lieutenant Torres to the bridge.”

“On my way.”

When B’Elanna emerged from the turbolift Kathryn raised an eyebrow. “What happened to discretion, Lieutenant?” she asked.

Everyone else was starting to show up for their shifts but Kathryn ignored them for the moment as she waited for an answer from her chief engineer.

“It wasn’t me, Captain. The doctor was complaining about her deactivating her nanoprobes over a rug burn and it took off from there. I am happy to report my innocence.”

“Understood,” Kathryn said wryly. “Dismissed.” Well, there was no point in further discretion and she wanted Seven close to her, so she tapped her badge again. “Seven of Nine to the bridge.”

“May I finish my sensor scan first or am I to report immediately?” Seven’s voice came over her comm.

“You may finish your scan,” Kathryn replied. “Janeway out.”

“Good morning, Captain,” Chakotay said as he took his seat beside her.

“Morning, Commander,” she said with a nod to him. “Apparently the night shift was once again uneventful.”

“I’m starting to think they save up all the action for us,” Chakotay remarked.

“It does seem rather unlikely that excitement should only happen during the day, doesn’t it?” Kathryn agreed.

They smirked at each other and settled down while the rest of shift change happened. A few minutes later the turbolift doors opened and Seven approached her, coming to stand at attention.

“How may I be of assistance, Captain?” she asked, all business.

“Do you have much work to do in astrometrics today?”

Seven seemed to sense the question behind the question and stood straighter. “Nothing that cannot wait until tomorrow, Captain.”

“Excellent. Have a seat.” Her eyes flicked to the floor beside her chair.

Seven stood unmoving for the briefest of seconds while she darted her gaze from each bridge officer to the next and then back to Kathryn. Those blue eyes blazed and held her own while the blonde carefully lowered herself to her knees in the indicated spot.

Kathryn reached out and pulled the pins from her hair, letting it fall down her back, then guided Seven’s head to rest on her lap while she turned her attention to the view screen.

“Kathryn,” Chakotay spoke up from beside her and she didn’t have to look at him to know he was frowning. She could literally hear it in his voice. It was just too bad for him that she was tired of caring.

“As you were, Commander,” she said smoothly, running her fingers through Seven’s hair and using her other hand to point something out on the screen. “What is that, Mr. Paris?”

He turned to see what she was pointing at and choked on his juice. “Uhh…” He made a quick recovery and followed the trajectory of her finger to a small blip on the left side of the screen. “I don’t know, Captain.”

“Magnify.”

The larger image did nothing to clear it up.

“Maximum magnification.”

Even then they had to squint. “I think it might be a shuttle,” Tom said.

“Life signs, Mr. Tuvok?”

“None. However, I am reading traces of neurogenic particles.”

“Steer clear of it, Mr. Paris,” Kathryn decided. “Unless there’s a distress call, I want nothing to do with neurogenic particles.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he nodded. “Gladly.”

The crew had had their fare share of bad experiences with neurogenics. It was a field they hadn’t yet mastered and the danger far outweighed any possible curiosity.

Once they changed course to avoid the shuttle, Chakotay tried again to talk to her. “Kathryn, that is making me very uncomfortable.”

She didn’t even look at him. “Feel free to join Harry on the night shift, Commander. I’m sure he could use an experienced first officer.”

“Kathryn,” he growled, but he stopped bringing it up.

She calmed her irritation by focusing on the feel of Seven’s hair sliding between her fingers. “Did you eat breakfast?” she asked the kneeling woman.

“No, Captain,” came the quiet reply.

“Why not?”

“Making the bed to your specifications took longer than anticipated and I did not wish to be late for my duty shift.”

“Precious girl,” Kathryn purred, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “The bed looked wonderful. In the future, you are not permitted to skip breakfast, even to avoid being late to your shift. Understood?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Come on. We’ll go get something now. I didn’t eat either.” She stood and tugged Seven with her, laying a hand on the Borg’s lower back as she turned to look at Chakotay. “You have the bridge.”

“And where will you be?”

She raised an eyebrow at him and debated refusing to answer, but a smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth and she said, “in the mess hall… _Dad_.”

She did not miss the stunned look on Chakotay’s face or the snickering from the helm as she led Seven off the bridge. She also didn’t miss how close Seven walked to her, pressing against her side. She almost tripped once or twice.

When they reached the mess hall she gave Seven a squeeze. “What would you like to eat?”

“Nutritional supplement beta-four, please, Captain,” Seven replied.

“Coming right up. Go pick a chair for me and kneel beside it,” she said as she headed for the replicator. “Nutritional supplement beta-four and a plate of bacon and eggs.” She had already had replicated coffee this morning so whatever blend Neelix had on tap would have to do. And by blend she meant concoction.

She gathered everything carefully in her hands and turned to find Seven. When she saw the Borg she nearly dropped their breakfast. Seven was kneeling, as directed, beside a chair across the room, her hands behind her back and her chin tipped to the floor. Not for the first time, she wondered what she had done to deserve such a precious gift.

Shaking off her reaction, Kathryn strode across the room and set down her plate, then slid onto the chair and took a handful of blonde hair at the nape of Seven’s neck, squeezing slowly. The rest of the world fell away for several long moments until Neelix made his appearance, and to his credit he only glanced briefly at Seven with a curious expression before clapping his hands to see them and treating them like he always did.

“Captain! Seven! Lovely to see you this morning. I see you’ve already gotten your food, but I can’t help noticing the lack of coffee! I have a delicious Benthan blend, steaming hot and ready for consumption. Shall I pour you a mug?”

“Yes, thank you Neelix,” Kathryn accepted the offer with a genuine smile. She noted with particular satisfaction that Seven did not raise her head.

After Neelix brought her coffee and went off to tend to other tables, Kathryn took a bite of eggs and then held Seven’s smoothie in front of her so she could reach the straw.

Seven stayed put and took a drink, then paused and raised her eyes to Kathryn’s, asking silent permission to continue.

Kathryn exhaled slowly through her nose, giving a subtle nod. She held the drink until Seven finished, fighting off shivers almost constantly. Did Seven have any idea the effect she had on her captain? Kathryn was not used to walking the corridors dripping wet; it would take some time to adapt. She set the empty glass on the table and resumed her own meal, the hand in Seven’s hair gently scratching her scalp.

Suddenly their table was graced with Harry Kim’s presence, and at the look on his face she prepared herself for anything.

“Why is Seven on the floor?”

Wow. There was nothing like complete and utter bluntness at fuck-o’clock in the morning. “Because that’s where we both like her to be,” she answered in a low voice.

“She likes kneeling on the floor and having you feed her breakfast?” Harry asked with obvious skepticism.

“If she didn’t like it, do you think she would be doing it?” Kathryn asked, wanting to make him think for himself and not just give him all the answers despite how young he was. “Not that it’s absolutely any of your concern, mind you, and please consider yourself lucky you caught me in a good enough mood to entertain your inappropriate inquiry, Mr. Kim. In the future, I wouldn’t recommend interrupting two women having breakfast together in such an intimate fashion,” she added, dropping her voice at the last two words and grinning when he suddenly became awkward. “If you have any more questions about what Seven likes, approach her at an appropriate time and direct them to her.”

“I didn’t mean to be rude, Captain, it’s just that everyone’s wondering.”

“Does everyone wonder about Tom and B’Elanna? Do they get interrupted at breakfast?”

“Everyone _knows_ about Tom and B’Elanna. There’s nothing to wonder. And they don’t usually eat breakfast at the same time, anyway.”

Kathryn snorted at the last bit. “Remind me to give you a commendation for missing the point. Well done, Ensign. Can I finish my breakfast now or did you want to ask about her favorite way to be spanked?”

Harry coughed to cover a choking fit, his face turning red. “Point taken, Captain. I’ll just be going.”

“Indeed.”

Once he was gone she tugged on Seven’s hair to get the Borg to look up at her. Seven was blushing a little but the look in her eyes was a mixture of frustration and mirth.

“Sometimes I wish I could read your mind,” she chuckled. “I’m almost finished. Are your knees getting too sore?”

“No, Captain, I am functioning within normal parameters,” Seven whispered.

“Excellent. Sit tight just a little longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Chakotay isn't reacting the way he is for the obvious reason. It'll be clear soon but he's not being a jealous ass.


	7. Chapter 7

Kathryn picked up the pace and finished her breakfast within the next five minutes, wanting to get Seven alone so they could talk.

Seven followed her to her quarters, pressed up against her side like earlier.

When they were inside with the doors shut, she sat on her lounger and pulled Seven onto her lap. “Tell me what I saw in your eyes,” she said gently. “I have a faint idea but don’t want to assume.”

She felt Seven’s arms wrap loosely around her and a blonde head rested on her shoulder. Her favorite. Did Seven know it was her favorite? Is that why it came so easily? Perhaps it was Seven’s favorite as well.

“I was amused by your ability to fluster Ensign Kim,” Seven started talking. “However, I was frustrated at the interruption, which served to confirm my fear of the crew losing respect for you. The thought causes me great distress, Captain.”

Kathryn feathered her fingers up and down Seven’s back. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said indulgently. “I didn’t get the impression there was respect lost; simply curiosity gained.”

“I do not feel I am worth the risk to your reputation, Captain.” Seven’s voice was tight and strained. “My needs are too great; your command will suffer. I cannot be the cause of delaying Voyager’s return to Earth. The crew will resent me.”

Kathryn wanted to interrupt her before the first sentence was even finished, but she let Seven express her fears before she addressed them. “Well,” she said, giving the Borg a squeeze. “This is certainly not the first time we have disagreed, nor will it be the last.”

Seven picked her head up, eyes searching Kathryn’s face. “Captain?”

“I feel that you are worth any and every risk I could possibly take in my lifetime. Your needs mirror my own, my precious girl, they’re simply the opposite side of the same coin and I think we complement each other quite well in that regard. As for—”

“Captain—”

“I’m not finished,” Kathryn said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m sure you don’t think it wise to interrupt me.”

Seven dropped her head back to Kathryn’s shoulder and curled closer. “I am sorry, Captain.”

“Indeed,” Kathryn said pointedly. “Don’t do it again. Now where was I? Oh, yes. As for my command… it comes as naturally as breathing. I am quite confident in my ability to command this ship in a professional capacity and command you in a personal one. It is not your job to prioritize my actions. That is my choice and my responsibility. If you wish to end this subunit of our relationship for your own reasons, I will regretfully accept it with grace and dignity, but if you attempt to make decisions for me again, I will spank you until you cannot sit. Understood?”

She thought the sigh she felt against her neck was very much a sigh of relief. “Yes, Captain. Understood.”

She was about to say something else when Seven spoke again.

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Alleviating my concern by relieving me of the responsibility I should not have taken upon myself.”

Kathryn’s mouth twitched into a lopsided grin. “I thought as much. You’re welcome.” She slid her hand from Seven’s back to her chin and tilted the Borg’s face up to press their lips together.

Seven melted into her, mouth opening eagerly, and she slid her tongue inside, then sucked Seven’s bottom lip between both of hers until the younger woman whimpered.

When she pulled back she rested their foreheads together. “I would take this a bit further but we’re both on duty and I wouldn’t want my command to suffer,” she said with a teasing grin.

Seven actually groaned. The sound made Kathryn giddy.

“Up you go. Back to work.”

She wondered if she was about to be faced with another Borg tantrum, but Seven slowly got to her feet and stood at attention. “After you.”

***

Before she could even sit down, her good mood was assaulted by the look on Chakotay’s face and she continued past the captain’s chair, speaking as she walked. “Commander, my ready room.”

Chakotay followed her in and she started pacing in front of her desk.

“All right. Let’s hear it.”

Chakotay looked at her for a minute before sighing and moving to sit on the sofa. “You mean you don’t already know what I’m going to say?”

She couldn’t tell if that was a jab or a genuine question. “To keep my personal life the hell out of your line of sight?”

He looked surprised. “No, Kathryn. Did you really think that was my objection to the scene this morning?”

She fumbled for words. “What else is there?” Why was everyone seeming to constantly surprise her today?

“Seven was a child when she was assimilated by the Borg,” he said quietly. “The type of relationship you two seem to have… are you sure she knows what she’s doing?”

The wind rushed from her lungs and she couldn’t seem to get it back. “You think I’m taking _advantage_ of her?” Why did it hurt so much to hear him say that?

“That’s not what I said—”

“But it’s what you think.”

He folded his hands in his lap. “Are you finished putting words in my mouth and ready to listen?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on, but nodded.

“Thank you. As your first officer, yes, it’s inappropriate. But which of us hasn’t done something inappropriate? We’re lost in the Delta Quadrant and have no way of knowing when we’ll get home. All we have is each other. This is unlike any other Starfleet crew and we have to make our own rules sometimes to get by. I had sex with Seska in the mess hall. Harry fell for an alien woman and disregarded first contact protocol. Tuvok and B’Elanna went behind your back to get that spatial trajectory matrix and almost blew up the ship. Tom stole a shuttle and attempted to blow up a mining operation against direct ord—”

“You had sex with Seska in the mess hall?” Kathryn interrupted, too stunned at that little detail to continue following his speech without comment. “The _mess hall_?”

Chakotay had that expression on his face where his lips drew down and she knew he was trying not to laugh. “We all do inappropriate things, Kathryn. As your first officer I’m inclined to ignore it. But as your friend, well, I wouldn’t be a very good one if I didn’t voice my concerns.”

She moved to sit next to him on the sofa, the hurt fading somewhat. “But it sounds like your concerns are for Seven. Why are you speaking to me about it and not her?”

“I tried. She stood at attention and said she refused to discuss it without your express permission.”

Kathryn’s eyebrows lifted. “I never forbid her from speaking of anything.”

He shrugged. “One of the reasons I asked if you’re sure she knows what she’s doing. She seems to think that talking to me is off limits. Or at least talking to me about her feelings.”

“Maybe it’s just hard for her to talk about her feelings. It’s something she’s struggled with for the last few years… a few weeks of expressing herself to me isn’t likely to change that innate difficulty on a general level.”

“No, but that’s not the impression I got, and it’s not what she said.”

Kathryn nodded. “I’ll clear that up right now.” She tapped her combadge. “Seven of Nine to my ready room.”

“On my way, Captain.”

A few minutes later the doors opened and Seven stepped inside, both eyebrows raising immediately. 

“Is there a problem, Captain? Commander?”

“No, dear. Chakotay does have a few concerns he would like to discuss with you, and I’m told you declined to participate?”

“I am certain his concerns can be better addressed to you, Captain.”

“In this case, no,” Kathryn said, rising from the sofa and walking to stand in front of Seven. “I haven’t asked you not to speak to anyone. You have my permission to tell anyone anything you wish.”

Seven shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting to Chakotay and then back to her. “Perhaps you would reconsider your position if you heard some of the questions he attempted to ask me.”

Kathryn bit her lip to ward off her amusement, not wanting either of them to think she wasn’t taking this seriously, because she absolutely was. “I am not requiring you to answer anything that makes you uncomfortable, Seven. I am merely giving you permission to speak freely to anyone on this ship. I’m going back to the bridge and the two of you can hash things out.”

“Shall I record the conversation for you to review at your convenience?”

Now Kathryn did let out a little laugh, shaking her head and kissing Seven’s cheek. “Absolutely not. It is not my intention to strip you of your right to privacy.” She leaned a little further and whispered the rest in Seven’s ear. “Except in times when it pleases us both. But your freedom to interact with the people on this ship is excluded from restriction.”

Seven’s arms slid around her and squeezed. “Thank you, Captain. I will speak with Commander Chakotay.”

The hug nearly melted her into a puddle on the floor and she returned it tightly. “I’ll be on the bridge,” she then said to both of them, giving a little salute and leaving the room.


	8. Chapter 8

They had been in the ready room for thirty-three minutes. Kathryn felt like Seven for a moment, watching the time down to the minute, but she had to admit she was nervous about their conversation and its outcome. She would not allow Chakotay’s disapproval to inhibit her relationship with Seven, but it would be very, very difficult for her not to have his support.

Thirty-four minutes.

The ready room doors whooshed open and it took all of her tactical training not to jump out of her seat and wring her hands while she waited for their report. It meant so very much to her.

Seven approached first, standing at attention in front of her. “May I return to astrometrics, Captain?”

“You may.”

Seven nodded and crossed to the turbolift.

Chakotay took his seat and smoothed his hands over the front of his jacket, then cleared his throat. “I have concluded that she knows what she’s doing,” was all he said.

She wanted to ask for clarification so badly but held her tongue. She had said she would respect Seven’s privacy and that went for Chakotay as well. “I’m glad.”

A few minutes later he said quietly, “do you know she almost smiles when she talks about you?”

Kathryn’s heart leapt into her throat and she turned her head toward him, pulse pounding in her ears. “She does?”

“Very close,” Chakotay affirmed. “It doesn’t quite reach her lips but it’s crystal clear in her eyes.”

Speaking of eyes, Kathryn’s suddenly felt teary. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Getting through her shift was hard with nothing useful to distract her from wanting to hold Seven; to talk to her and kiss her.

Finally it was 1800 hours and the night shift came to relieve the bridge crew. She gave Harry the status report. “It was an uneventful day in which we avoided a shuttle with traces of neurogenic particles and nothing else. May your night be equally as uneventful.”

Harry held up his pack of cards with a smile. “Here’s hoping.”

***

Kathryn stood silently in the doorway of astrometrics, watching Seven finish up her work. She was about to make her presence known when Seven beat her to it.

“I am aware of your eyes on me, Captain,” she said casually, her fingers never pausing in their endless quest of tapping screens and calibrating ions and repolarizing shields and all of the other amazing things that Seven was capable of. “I will be finished shortly.”

A smile split her lips at the acknowledgment. Of course Seven had known she was there. She leaned against the door frame and just observed, enjoying the quiet moment.

When she’d finished, Seven turned around and approached the doorway. She hesitated a few feet away until Kathryn extended an arm and she slipped into it, pressing close, inadvertently pinning Kathryn between her and the door frame. She eased off immediately, an apology on her lips, but Kathryn stole a quick kiss to deter it.

“Are you hungry?”

“No, Captain, I obtained a nutritional supplement while working.” She looked at Kathryn. “Are you hungry?”

Kathryn offered her a soft smile in return and shook her head. “No. I’ll eat later. Come on.” She replaced her arm around Seven’s waist and tugged her toward the holodecks. “Computer, activate program Janeway Alpha Epsilon Six.”

“ _Janeway Alpha Epsilon Six activated. Enter when ready_ ,” the computer chimed.

She stepped through the doors expecting to find a moonlit beach, the program she’d created, and instead stepped into a stone dungeon with various tools of the trade lining the walls. “Oh, I’m going to kill him,” she muttered. “Computer, end program.”

“Wait,” Seven said, but it was too late and the dungeon faded into the holodeck grid.

“Wait?” Kathryn asked, her eyebrows arching above wide eyes as she turned around to look at Seven. “What for?” That was certainly an intriguing response.

“We are explorers, are we not?” Seven asked, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

Kathryn’s tension started to ease and she let out a delighted laugh. “We are. I’d intended for us to explore a nice warm beach. It seems Mr. Paris had other ideas.”

“Perhaps he should be forbidden from accessing the holodeck controls,” Seven suggested. “Although we would not have been treated to such a lovely dungeon otherwise.”

“It’s a hard call,” Kathryn went along with the playful banter. “I’m afraid to activate any of my other programs now… let’s play it safe and go to my quarters. I’ll sort out the beach program for tomorrow night.”

“As you wish,” Seven agreed, following her off the holodeck.

Kathryn tapped her combadge as they weaved through the corridors. “Janeway to Paris. Report to the brig for indefinite incarceration.”

To her utter surprise, Seven snorted out a laugh behind her. She smiled so brightly in response she was afraid her mouth would start to ache.

“Belay that order,” came B’Elanna’s voice over the comms.

The comms chirped again. “Uhhhh…….” That was Tom.

Chirp. “Consider yourself lucky, Mr. Paris. Report to Holodeck Two and fix my goddamn programs.”

“Aye, Captain.”

When they reached her quarters she pulled Seven inside and into a fierce, hungry kiss, hands on either side of the blonde’s head, tongue pressing through parted lips and over unyielding teeth.

Seven’s hands closed around her biceps as the kiss continued and Kathryn thoroughly enjoyed the pressure of the Borg’s fingertips.

When they parted she addressed the computer. “Computer, seal the doors to the captain’s quarters, authorization Janeway delta four.”

“ _Doors sealed_.”

Kathryn looked at Seven. “From now on, as soon as we enter my quarters I want you to take your hair down.”

“Yes, Captain.” Seven reached up to remove the bindings and her hair tumbled free, just the way Kathryn liked it.

“Beautiful,” she purred, kissing the Borg again, this time much softer and sweeter, and much shorter. “Seven… I don’t want to know what you said to Chakotay this morning, but I do want to know if everything you told him was true.”

“True, Captain?”

“Yes. You didn’t falsify information to appease his concerns, did you?”

“His concerns or yours?” Seven asked, and Kathryn had to applaud her intuition.

“His concerns, for the most part,” she answered honestly. “But once he said it I couldn’t help but wonder if—”

“Everything I told him was true,” Seven interrupted.

Kathryn blinked. “What did I tell you about interrupting me?”

“I felt it necessary in order to prevent your thoughts from straying to baseless accusations.”

“And I feel it necessary for you to take off your shoes and go stand in the corner.”

Seven’s eyelids fluttered, her eyes casting to the floor. “Yes, Captain.” She removed her heels and walked to one corner of the room, placing herself in it with her hands behind her back.

Kathryn sighed and removed her jacket, leaving her in her purple turtleneck and uniform trousers. She took off her own shoes and stretched out on the lounger after plucking a book from the bookshelf, and started to read.

She let Seven stand there for roughly half an hour, then closed her book and set it aside, sitting up. “All right. Come here.”

Seven approached and stopped in front of her, lowering herself to her knees.

Hands couldn’t resist threading through silky blonde hair and lips couldn’t resist pressing to a pale forehead. “Now how do you feel about interrupting me?”

“Must I be honest?” Seven asked, her expression sheepish.

“You must…”

“I feel it was worth every minute in the corner to forestall doubts from plaguing your mind, Captain.”

“Oh, Seven.” How could she be annoyed after that? She pulled Seven’s head against her, arms tight around the kneeling woman. “It’s unfair for you to be so charming. Go get in bed.” She reluctantly released her hold.

Seven looked like she was going to argue with the charming comment, but she seemed to decide against it and instead got to her feet. “Yes, Captain.” She unzipped her biosuit as she headed for the bedroom, shrugging out of it as she walked and bending down to pick it up.

Kathryn followed her into the bedroom, eyes hawk-like and trained on the blonde’s every move.

Seven discarded the suit on the bedroom’s lounger, then stood beside it and removed her undergarments, placing them on top of the biosuit. Naked, she walked around to the side of the bed she had occupied the previous night, pulled back the blankets and crawled into bed. She lay on her side facing Kathryn, propped up on one elbow. She left the blankets down around her feet.

Kathryn stood at the foot of the bed for several minutes just staring, her gaze trailing up and down Seven’s intensely appealing body. “Very good,” she finally whispered, nodding toward the blankets at Seven’s feet in acknowledgement. She undid her trousers and let them drop, stepped out of them and got into bed in her turtleneck and panties.

Seven’s eyes were on her just as riveted as hers had been, the Borg’s pupils dilating quite clearly as her bare legs were revealed. She had never removed any clothing in front of Seven – she’d slept in her uniform last night. But she wanted to be comfortable, and she wanted to give something of herself after all Seven had given.

She faced Seven and pulled the blankets up around them both, then took Seven’s free left hand in hers and brought it to rest on the outside of her leg, just above her knee. The metal was cool but Seven’s skin was warm and she let a small shudder roll through her. “Just rub your hand up and down, from my knee to my hip, slowly,” she said, swallowing with care.

Seven let out a barely audible gasp, her fingers tightening for the briefest of seconds before going slack. “You are so soft,” she whispered, her palm sliding slowly all the way up to Kathryn’s hip, pausing, and then gliding back down to her knee. “Oh,” Seven exclaimed, repeating the gesture, her movements just as slow.

Kathryn had never been so electrified from such a simple touch. It was innocuous, yet it was everything. She trembled. And with each pass of Seven’s hand, she grew wetter. She had no intention of letting the touch become anything other than what it was; there would be no escalation, no sliding of Seven’s fingers under the elastic of her panties, just… this. This moment of enhanced reality. This perfection.

She let it go on for minutes upon minutes, and when she finally couldn’t take any more without becoming overstimulated she spoke quietly to Seven. “All right, that’s enough.”

Seven’s hand shook as she withdrew it into her own space, feathering her fingertips over her lips as she whispered, “yes, Captain.”

Kathryn kept herself covered but took the blankets away from Seven’s body. “I want you to touch your breasts.”

Seven’s cheeks puffed for a second before the Borg exhaled slowly. It was clear she did not want to comply. But she did. “Yes, Captain.” She covered her left breast with her left hand, stroking softly as her eyes closed. She was still propped up on her right elbow and Kathryn liked the view too much to instruct her to use both hands.

“It excites me to see you do that,” Kathryn remarked in a low, husky voice.

Blue eyes snapped open, Seven’s lips parting on a gasp. “It does?”

“Very much so…”

“Had you informed me of this last night, my response would have been less… petulant,” Seven replied, a bit breathless.

“You did not deserve to know that last night,” Kathryn scolded, keeping the mood light by throwing Seven a little smirk. “Does it feel good?” she then brought the subject back to the present, nodding toward Seven’s busy hand.

“It does not feel any particular way, Captain,” the blonde informed her. “Perhaps my breasts are not sensitive.”

Kathryn reached out and nudged Seven’s hand out of the way, dragging her thumb across a peaked nipple. She got her first moan from the Borg at the same time Seven arched her back, pressing her breast harder into Kathryn’s hand.

“I think they’re just fine,” Kathryn purred, moving her hand out of the way and replacing it with her mouth.

Seven let out a little cry and bucked against her mouth, and she could hear the younger woman’s breath break down to ragged bursts of air. It was exhilarating, having that effect. She licked her way across Seven’s chest to her other breast, giving it the same attention before releasing with a faint pop of sound.

“How are you doing?” she stopped to check in. “Is this pleasurable?”

Seven could barely get a word out. “Ye—s.”

“Would you like me to continue?”

This time the word came out perfectly. “Yes.”

Kathryn grinned and took Seven’s nipple into her mouth again, just gently suckling while a hand went to tangle in the Borg’s hair, squeezing and releasing rhythmically in time with the motion of her mouth.

Seven was a bit of a mess, moaning and squirming and breathing fast. This woman was the most arousing being she could ever imagine bestowing her attention on. She didn’t want to make Seven’s nipples too sensitive so she dragged her mouth away, kissing the blonde with a touch of possessiveness that never seemed to go away. “All right pretty girl, let’s get you on your back,” she hummed, giving a gentle push on Seven’s shoulder that wasn’t needed. The Borg was already complying before she finished her thought. “I want you to relax without having to hold yourself up.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Seven said breathlessly. “Perhaps my breasts are more sensitive than I first concluded…”

Kathryn gave a low chuckle and nodded her agreement. “Noted,” she said, still propping herself up on her left elbow, head resting on her hand as she looked down at Seven, leaving her right arm free. She swirled one fingertip around the blonde’s hard nipples and made a trail down the center of her rib cage, then flattened her hand and pressed on Seven’s belly, feeling the taut muscles quiver beneath her touch.

Seven’s rate of breath increased again and her eyes were wide, staring at Kathryn’s hand. The way her chest rose and fell with such chaos was threatening to unravel Kathryn completely. Every non-measured breath from the woman who defined efficiency pulled Kathryn’s stomach tighter and tighter, her pulse fluttering in her groin.

“Seven,” she said, holding onto her control by a very fine thread, her voice only steady due to years of rigorous discipline. “When you are ready for me to touch you between your legs, put your arms above your head and hold on to the edge of the mattress.”

Seven’s eyes got that glassy look and her fingers twitched at her sides.

Kathryn returned her attention to the hand on Seven’s belly, pressing down firmly and gliding across slants of metal over to one hip. She eased the pressure and drew patterns with her nails, pausing when Seven’s hips jerked and continuing when they settled. She contented herself with that task for long moments, then let her fingers dance up the Borg’s flank and skate across her ribs, one at a time, until she thought Seven was going to hyperventilate.

She stilled her hand, leaving it splayed across Seven’s ribs, and leaned down to kiss her. Seven’s lips parted to accept the kiss, drawing Kathryn’s tongue into her mouth, and she licked her way to Seven’s, flicking it with the tip of hers, drawing another indulgent sound from her Borg.

When her hand started moving again, playing with soft skin and hard nipples, Seven’s back arched and the Borg’s arms went above her head, hands gripping the edge of the mattress with desperate strength.

No words were spoken; none were needed, and Kathryn bit her lip as she slid her hand down lower, teasing Seven’s thighs apart and drawing the moment out just a breath longer, petting her thighs and feathering back up to her hips until Seven let out an anguished cry. That sound was Kathryn’s undoing and her hand descended into slick heat, a gasp on her lips as her fingers slipped.

“Oh,” she couldn’t help murmuring as she was surrounded by _wet_. She parted the blonde’s folds with two fingers and stroked up and down, the ease of it making her own clit throb.

Seven cried out, hips leaving the bed as she tried to obtain firmer contact, and Kathryn obliged. She quickly found the spot she wanted and eased one finger a little way in. Seven’s muscles gripped her and she made sure not to force it, letting the Borg’s humanity adjust to the intrusion, the guttural sound from the younger woman driving her to distraction.

Apparently she was being over cautious because Seven whined and threw her head to the side, eyes squeezing shut. “Please,” she gasped. “More.”

That one got the tiniest of sounds from Kathryn and she slowly eased her finger in further, clamping her jaw shut to keep quiet because being inside Seven of Nine was the most incredible thing she’d ever felt. She ducked her head to kiss Seven’s forehead. “You tell me if it hurts you,” she said gently but seriously. She wanted Seven’s first time to be nothing short of perfection for the woman who strove to such heights.

“Ack—nowledged,” Seven managed to reply, words obviously a struggle in her distracted state.

Kathryn had to grin at the formal reply during sex. Only Seven would use the word ‘acknowledged’ in this situation. There was no one like her in the world, and she had chosen Kathryn. The significance of their bond was still staggering at times and Kathryn struggled not to fall apart.

Seven’s hips were moving now, barely noticeable, a subtle, constant shifting. Kathryn drew her hand back, stifling a groan at the delicious friction, and pushed back in, curling her finger to press against the ridges inside the blonde.

Seven shrieked, nothing subtle about the way her thighs clamped down on Kathryn’s hand to keep her inside, and blue eyes flew open, finding hers. “I do not know how to respond,” she gasped. “The feeling is so pleasurable, I—I…” She trailed off, throwing her head to the side again and bucking her hips.

“It will get more intense, Seven,” Kathryn explained tenderly, holding her hand still. “Will that be acceptable or have you had enough for one evening?”

“I wish to try,” Seven said on a forced exhale. “If you wish to proceed.” She held her breath.

“I wish to proceed,” Kathryn assured her, finding it hard not to laugh at the idea she may not wish to proceed. Nothing in the universe other than Seven’s withdrawal of consent would keep her from wishing to proceed.

“We are in agree—ohhhhh,” Seven moaned and writhed beneath her as she started moving her hand again, and Kathryn had to admit to feeling a hint of pride at being able to make Seven of Nine deconstruct in the middle of a sentence.

She tracked Seven’s breathing as she moved a little faster, making sure it wasn’t too much. She needn’t have worried because Seven spread her thighs wider, angling her hips to meet each gentle thrust.

The Borg’s noises were now as constant as the motion of her body, each one hitting Kathryn in a different nerve. She was as patient as humanly possible before she brought her thumb into play, taking an experimental swipe across Seven’s clitoris.

The reaction was immediate and powerful. Seven’s right hand flew from the mattress to fist the sleeve of Kathryn’s turtleneck, a strangled cry pulled from her throat as she started to shake.

Kathryn rode through it with her, dropping little kisses across her forehead and cheeks until Seven peaked, every muscle tightening, holding, then going slack as a shudder ran through her, wringing out the last traces of her climax. Her back arched, thighs squeezing shut to trap Kathryn’s hand again before she fell still.

When the haze cleared from her normally sharp eyes she stared up at Kathryn in clear disbelief, panting for breath, her hair a sweaty mess—but still shiny, Kathryn noted. “Captain,” she choked out, releasing the hold on her turtleneck and smoothing the wrinkles in a way that felt like an apology for making a mess.

“Yes, my sweet girl? Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Seven breathed. “I am sorry for breaking rule number three,” she added, her voice rough and raspy, eyes flicking to Kathryn’s sleeve.

“The transgression was unavoidable given the situation,” Kathryn said with a vibrant smile. “You are forgiven. I am more concerned with how you feel, Seven.”

“I do not believe I possess words to describe how I feel.”

“Is it a positive feeling?” she asked. Sometimes yes or no questions made it easier for Seven to narrow things down.

“Yes,” Seven said, giving her a look that seemed to question her sanity. “Of course.”

“I—” Kathryn false started, then shook her head with a chuckle. “Sometimes people have regrets after being intimate. I need you to know that if that happens, I will understand.”

“That is an impossibility, Captain.”

“Nothing’s impossible, Seven, and if I don’t ask you, I can’t expect you to tell me. I just want to make it clear that however you feel, positive or negative, at any time, that it’s okay. Any feeling you have is valid and I need you to understand that.”

“You have made it quite clear, Captain,” Seven assured her. “My feelings at this time are positive. I will inform you if that changes.”

“Thank you, my little former Borg,” Kathryn grinned, pulling her close.

She felt Seven settle easily into her arms and it wasn’t long after that she felt her lover’s breathing even into sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! If you have a comment or a question you're not comfortable sharing en masse, my e-mail is almost the same as my username. voyager.girl.j7@gmail.com
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read and commented :)

Waking up with Seven in her bed was easily the best way to start a morning. Even the godawful alarm going off didn’t ruin the moment. The fact that Seven was already awake and just gazing at her filled her with a slightly amused warmth and she hit the snooze button, then leaned over for a kiss.

Seven sighed into her mouth, eyes fluttering closed, and made a contented sound. “Good morning, Captain,” she whispered.

“Good morning, my dear,” Kathryn whispered back. “And what thoughts have graced your mind so far today?”

Seven’s eyes slowly opened and she was gazing at Kathryn again. “That you are beautiful, Captain.”

Kathryn felt her cheeks go hot and she marveled at how such a simple statement could so thoroughly make her blush. She, who commanded a Federation starship. She, who commanded the most beautiful woman she’d ever laid eyes on. She, who formed alliances with strange and powerful species while leading the charge against others. She blushed when Seven called her beautiful.

When she failed to respond within a few moments, Seven seemed uncertain. “Have I misspoken, Captain?”

“No,” she rushed to assure her Borg. “I’m just not used to—it’s been awhile since—no, Seven, you have not misspoken.” She brought a hand to tuck some unruly blonde hair behind her lover’s ear. “Thank you. That’s what I should have said to begin with. Thank you, Seven.”

Seven was apparently satisfied with that because she gave an appeased sort of nod. “You are welcome.”

“You didn’t wake me up to go to the bathroom,” Kathryn teased suddenly.

“I slept through the night, Captain. I only woke six minutes and forty-seven seconds before you did.”

“That’s very specific,” Kathryn said with a low chuckle.

“Were you hoping I would admit to violating rule number four so you could punish me?” Seven asked, and Kathryn was about to be alarmed at the nature of the question when she caught the twinkle in the Borg’s eyes and the near-undetectable trace of a smirk.

She relaxed instantly and let out an indulgent laugh. “Seven of Nine, report to the brig for teasing your captain,” she demanded.

Before Seven could answer the alarm blared again from behind her and she groaned.

“Belay that order. Report for your duty shift instead.” She shut the alarm off and sat up. “And I was so looking forward to punishing you. The things we do for this crew.”

Seven actually smiled before she looked away quickly and Kathryn grabbed her chin to keep her from hiding.

“Let me see that smile you’re trying to hide,” she directed. “It lights up your whole face…”

“You are incorrect, Captain. A smile does not provide illumination.”

“Aren’t you a smart-ass this morning?” Kathryn replied, dragging her into a heated kiss, finding the dry humor undeniably charming.

Seven, as always, melted against her, inviting her in with an open mouth but never trying to take control of the kiss.

***

“Captain Janeway to astrometrics.”

Kathryn blinked, hand lifting to tap her badge when the comms chirped again.

“At your earliest convenience.”

A slow grin formed and she made to respond.

Chirp. “Please.”

Chakotay chuckled. “It seems Seven is finally starting to pick up on that chain of command we’ve been trying so hard to teach her,” he said with that smirk of his that managed somehow not to be condescending when it absolutely would have been if it came from anyone else. Someday she’d have to ask him how he perfected that skill. As it was, she was just very happy to hear him joking instead of being worried.

“It would seem so,” she agreed with her own smirk, shaking her head as she finally tapped her badge without interruption. “On my way.”

Chirp. “Thank you.”

She ran her hands over her face and laughed as she made her way to the turbolift.

“Perhaps someday soon she may actually make it sound like a request,” Tuvok shot at her back as she stepped into it.

She spun around, simply raising an amused eyebrow at him as the doors whooshed shut.

She entered astrometrics just in time to see Seven slam a fist down on one of the consoles. “Hey,” she said, rushing over and taking the Borg’s hand in both of hers, checking for damage. “What’s going on?”

Seven’s mouth was pulled into a tight line, the muscles in her jaw clenched. “I require assistance,” she said through gritted teeth.

“And you feel that is cause to abuse the equipment?” Kathryn asked, tilting her head curiously, still holding Seven’s hand as if it were delicate porcelain.

“I feel the equipment deserves my abuse,” Seven spat angrily.

So this was one of those times she was going to have to drag information out of the Borg. She brought Seven’s lightly bruised knuckles to her lips and pressed a tiny kiss to each one. “What did the equipment do to offend you so?”

“It is malfunctioning!” Seven shouted.

That was obviously not the problem. Things malfunctioned constantly and Seven never reacted like this. She stroked gentle fingertips back and forth over the top of the hand she held, remaining patient.

Seven finally deflated a bit, shoulders slumping. “It is malfunctioning because I made an error.”

There it was. She knew how vehemently Seven was opposed to making mistakes. She tolerated it from others but not from herself. “Go on,” she said quietly.

“I must reset the sensors completely and start over but a hard reset requires the captain’s command code authorization,” Seven continued, her voice continuing to de-escalate, now at a normal volume.

“I would have given you the authorization over the comms,” Kathryn probed a little.

“I… did not want the rest of the crew to be made aware of my error,” she said, and Kathryn was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

Realization dawned and she pulled Seven into a crushing embrace, kissing the top of her head. “You’re afraid they’ll think you made a mistake because I’ve distracted you.”

“Yes,” Seven choked out, arms going tightly around her. “But I assure you that was not the case, Captain.”

She sounded so distressed it was making Kathryn’s own anxiety rise. “Even if it were the case, everyone makes mistakes once in awhile, Seven. It’s a part of being human.”

“It was not the case,” Seven insisted, voice starting to raise again.

“Shh,” Kathryn soothed, stroking her hair. “I’m sure it wasn’t. I have no reason to doubt you and I don’t doubt you. Just take a few breaths and we’ll figure this out together.”

***

It turned out Seven hadn’t actually made an error; the malfunction was caused by a misbehaving gel pack. Once they figured it out and righted the situation, Seven sealed the doors and dropped to her knees, pressing her face into Kathryn’s belly.

A little stunned, Kathryn brought her hands to Seven’s hair pins and pulled them out so she could run her fingers through disheveled blonde locks and lightly scratch her nails back and forth across her lover’s scalp. She wasn’t entirely sure what this was, but she expected Seven just needed to feel something familiar; some order after the past hour’s chaos.

So she stood in the middle of astrometrics playing with Seven’s hair until the Borg gave a shuddering sigh and asked for permission to stand.

“You may,” she granted, and watched Seven put herself back together, standing tall and binding her hair in its usual fashion; unsealing the doors.

“Thank you for your assistance, Captain,” Seven said after a deep, cleansing breath.

“You can come to me any time,” Kathryn promised. “There’s something I’d like you to do for me, Seven.”

“Of course, Captain.” She now stood at attention.

“Your eidetic memory should assist you in the task. I want you to write me a letter about this morning, detailing every thought that passed through your mind from the moment you discovered the malfunction to the moment we’re sharing right now.”

If Seven found the request odd she didn’t show it. “Yes, Captain. Is it acceptable to begin at the end of my shift and approach you when the report is finished?”

“Letter, not report,” Kathryn reminded her. “I don’t want technical details, I want your thoughts and feelings.”

Seven looked the slightest bit uncomfortable at that but gave a brief nod. “Understood.”

“And I want it handwritten. You can replicate a pen and paper.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Also… I know you’ve slept with me the last two nights instead of regenerating, so while I read your letter, you will regenerate.”

Kathryn couldn’t read the look on Seven’s face no matter how hard she tried, but Seven sucked in a slow breath and nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

She almost asked what the blonde was thinking but she’d just demanded a whole letter addressing it so she simply nodded in return and kept her curiosity to herself. “All right. I’ll see you when you’ve finished.” She couldn’t bring herself to leave without kissing Seven’s forehead, so she did, and then she did it again, and then she returned to the bridge.

“Everything okay?” Chakotay asked when she returned, and she had the strongest urge to just… hug him.

She sat in her chair instead and looked at him sideways. “Malfunctioning gel pack,” she said with a groan. “But it’s fixed. Thank you.” She turned her head to look over her shoulder at Tuvok and Ensign Ward, who was typically on night shift but was covering for Harry until he was back on days. “Is there anything nearby? _Anything_?”

“There is a penal colony approximately twenty light years from here,” Tuvok informed her. “I did not think you would care to visit.”

“Oh, God. Anything else? Ward? Anything on long-range scanners?”

Ensign Ward shook her head. “Nothing yet, Ma’am.”

“Well I can’t just sit here on the bridge and do nothing. Alert me the moment we get something on scanners. I’ll be in Holodeck Two.” She stood and headed for the turbolift. “Oh, and Mr. Paris? If you fuck with any of my programs again your holodeck access will be revoked, and that includes spending any time in them. Understood?”

She could hear Tom’s amusement even from the lift. “Understood, Captain.”

As the doors whooshed shut she heard Ensign Ward ask, “did the captain just say fuck?”

Unfortunately she couldn’t hear Tom or Tuvok’s response because the turbolift took off.

***

Davinci’s workshop was just what she needed and she dressed the part, looking over the available materials, finally deciding to paint. It wasn’t her strongest artistic skill but she didn’t want to get into sculpting in case something showed up on the scanners and she was called to the bridge. Painting was at least partially a sensory experience and she set up a canvas, dipping her brush and bringing pigments to life.

When she was done she had a fairly realistic portrayal of a Borg cube on the canvas and plenty of black and green and gray and yellow paint smudged on her hands and face and probably in her hair. She then chose a very fine brush and decorated the image with script.

In a line above the cube: _From a nightmare came a dream_. 

And then beneath: _Without the shadow of assimilation, your humanity would not shine so light_.

She signed her initials in the bottom right corner and started cleaning up while she let the whole thing dry.

***

Back in uniform after a sonic shower, Kathryn returned once more to the bridge, thankful for the time of 1700 hours. Just one more hour and day shift was over. She could retire to her quarters and read while she waited for Seven.


	10. Chapter 10

_Dear Captain Janeway,_  


_You have asked me to write about my experience this morning and I shall endeavor to provide as accurate a description of my thoughts and feelings as I am capable of expressing._

The first thing she did when she started reading was fall in love with Seven’s handwriting. Each letter was uniform height and width, but the pen strokes weren’t smooth, they were shaky.

_The moment I discovered the sensor malfunction and believed I was to blame, I felt I had failed you. Failed this crew. Failed myself. The weight of that failure was infinite and crushing. My heart raced and I began to sweat. I did not wish for you to see me in such a state. I did not wish to disappoint you as well as fail you.  
Once I was able to countermand my body’s reactions I asked you to report to astrometrics. I did not know if you would come. I was uncertain. I was unsure of myself. You stated that you were on your way and I spent that time pacing the room, growing more and more frustrated with myself and the equipment until I could no longer contain that frustration and I became physically violent with the console.  
You arrived and took my hand. Your gentle touch was unexpected. The feel of your hand holding mine so delicately pulled my attention briefly from my failure and my thoughts centered on the softness of your skin. That caused me to focus on other things about you. Your scent. Your eyes. Your voice. You asked me what was going on and this caused my thoughts to return to the situation. I became angry at myself all over again. I had interrupted your morning to rescue me from my inefficiency. I asked you for assistance. You asked if that was cause to abuse the equipment. I was ashamed of my behavior and answered with anger. The equipment deserved my abuse, I told you, because I did not wish to inform you of my part in the malfunction.  
When you kissed my hand you caused my body to tingle, not just at the point of contact but throughout every system. My knees felt weak, Captain. My blood surged to the juncture between my legs and my stomach tightened. I became wet.  
You asked what the equipment had done to offend me so. I shouted in response because I was angry at myself for becoming distracted by your touch. I am sorry I shouted at you, Captain. Please understand that I was shouting at myself. I wanted nothing more than to fall to my knees and beg your forgiveness. I was frustrated and did not know how to properly express myself without admitting my fault in the sensor malfunction. I did not realize it at the time, but writing this now I realize my pride was asserting itself. I wish to be perfect for you. Making an error is not perfection.  
Your silence and the tender way you continued to touch my hand made me ashamed of my reluctance to confess the remainder of the truth. I finally admitted my error to you and my shame began to dissipate. I knew I could trust you. I felt trust for you in that moment. I trust you with my mind, my body, my life. I knew you would assist me because you always assist any member of your crew.  
You encouraged me to continue speaking and I informed you of the requirements needed in order to reset the sensors. Your calm was calming me. I could breathe easier again. I watched your face and the way you looked at me brought me comfort. I wished to be wrapped in your arms, still in bed, never having left your quarters.  
You rightfully questioned my motivations and I felt the wetness of tears form in my eyes as I conveyed my fear of the crew thinking ill of our relationship. I could not bear it if their opinion of me caused you to withdraw from our personal association. I stood imagining how I would handle losing you over my error and I became dizzy and disoriented. My thoughts attacked me. I feared returning to my solitude. I feared having to look at you while not being able to be close. Not being able to touch you, kiss you, and be touched and kissed by you. My fear was overwhelming and I was frozen with it. I did not think I would be able to remain upright.  
You wrapped me in your arms and kissed my head. It was perfection. The understanding in your voice and the way you held me forced my fears to retreat to my subconscious mind and all I could think of was your strong arms around me and how I could never again survive without that action. I needed you to know that my error had not been due to distraction over personal matters. Nothing had ever been so important for me to convey.  
You told me you understood and that you believed me. I could breathe.  
When it became apparent I had not in fact made an error at all, but the cause of the malfunction was an aberrant gel pack, I was overwhelmed with anger and relief. Relief that I had not erred; anger that everything I had been forced to fear was now irrelevant.  
I could no longer contain my need to be near you so I sealed the doors and knelt before you, unable to prevent myself from hiding in the muscled softness of your belly. You played with my hair and I was instantly content. I felt connected to you once more, felt I was worthy of your attention. I thought of how wonderful your fingernails felt on my scalp and how much I love it when you play with my hair. That is not something I would have hypothesized to enjoy before having experienced it, but from the moment you first touched my hair I have craved that touch.  
I knew I was being selfish and you should have been on the bridge, not in astrometrics taking time to appease me. I wanted to stay on my knees forever, Captain, with your hands in my hair, but I could not abide my selfishness so I requested permission to stand. I unsealed the doors and prepared myself for your departure. I tucked away my weakness and returned my hair to its bindings. I took a breath to orient myself and then I thanked you. A simple thank you was not enough to express my gratitude but I had no other words with which to do so. My inadequacy was forgotten when you asked me to write this letter.  
I was horrified at the idea, Captain. I am sorry for feeling in such a manner. I wanted to scream at you that I am incapable of such a task and ask why you would punish me so. My trust for you and my desire to be controlled by you combined to force my acceptance of your directive and I once again became physically excited, this time in the form of a fire beneath my skin. I detest writing and yet I was anticipating the moment my shift would end and I would be free to do your bidding. As I have been standing here writing this I have come to understand why you asked it of me. There are many thoughts and feelings that go unrecognized; unspoken; unrealized; unacted upon during the course of a morning or evening or a lifetime. The length of this letter exceeds the length of our interaction this morning. One moment can be filled with a thousand words on paper. It is a most intimate way to relate to another being. Thank you, Captain, for assigning me this task; for wanting to know me in this manner. I anxiously await the end of my regeneration cycle and the moment I am able to be close to you again. I am feeling very exposed and vulnerable, but these feelings only serve to heighten my anticipation and my desire for you._

_Sincerely,  
Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of ~~Unimatrix 01~~ the Federation starship Voyager_

Kathryn wiped her eyes when she finished reading the letter, holding the paper to her chest for a moment. She had expected Seven’s feelings to be more than met the eye, but this… this was devastatingly beautiful. This letter meant more to her than any she had ever received. How could Seven keep from expressing such complex, haunting emotions? Kathryn had only perceived perhaps twenty percent of the things Seven had been thinking and feeling. She might have felt more like a failure if Seven wasn’t so uniquely skilled at presenting a mask.

There were specific things in the letter that would need to be addressed; explained to Seven, but regardless of anything else, she was humbled and touched by what Seven had written and she was certainly not going to wait for the regeneration cycle to complete before she got her hands on that Borg.


	11. Chapter 11

Kathryn stowed the letter safely in her quarters and checked the mirror to make sure her mascara hadn’t run. There was no evidence of tears so she gave herself a nod and tried not to be overwhelmed as she made her way to cargo bay two. Her hands shook with the need she felt to wrap them around Seven’s arms, her hips, her throat, her thighs…

She strode to the alcove where Seven was peacefully regenerating and activated the console to end the cycle. As Seven’s eyes fluttered open the alcove issued a warning.

_“Warning. Regeneration cycle incomplete.”_

Seven didn’t move quickly enough for her and she grabbed the Borg around the waist, dragging her down from the alcove and squeezing her.

Seven’s stiff posture at the sudden act relaxed as soon as Kathryn’s arms went around her. “My letter was… acceptable?” she asked quietly.

“Your letter was nothing short of a masterpiece,” Kathryn breathed. “I had no idea the intensity of some of the things you feel. You are certainly adept at keeping them to yourself.”

“I express myself when asked to,” Seven pointed out. “Or when the situation requires it.”

“That’s true,” Kathryn agreed, hands roaming the Borg’s muscled back. “It wasn’t a reprimand.” She loosened her hold and leaned up to demand a kiss. “There are some things in the letter I want to speak about, but not tonight. Tonight I want to take you to the beach like I’d planned to last night. However, there is one thing I want to make clear immediately, with no room for misunderstanding or doubt on either of our parts.”

Seven stood at attention, eyes fixed on Kathryn’s. “Yes, Captain?”

“I need you to know that the only two people who have any sway over our personal association are you and I. You will never lose me because of disapproval by anyone else. _Anyone. Ever_. I’m sure there are probably a handful of people on this ship who would disapprove just because we’re two women. Some might balk at the age difference between us. Some might suddenly decide they think I’m offering you special treatment and resent the both of us. None of those things would make me walk away from you, Seven of Nine. Is this matter perfectly clear?”

Seven grabbed her by the collar and kissed her.

Well that was certainly a novel way to respond to a verbal question. She allowed the kiss for a few seconds and then pulled back, eyebrows arched. “While I do not object to passionate overtures, I believe I asked you a direct question, young lady. Is the matter perfectly clear?”

Seven’s cheeks dusted pink and she put her hands behind her back, though Kathryn could tell it was a struggle for her to maintain decorum. “The matter is perfectly clear, Captain.”

“Is your fear related to this matter assuaged?”

“I do not think it possible for my fear to be one hundred percent assuaged, Captain, but I feel a great deal of relief and the fear has lessened considerably.”

“Perhaps with time the fear will disappear altogether,” Kathryn offered quietly. “And for the record, I thoroughly enjoyed your lapse in composure just now but you owe me thirty minutes in the corner for taking liberties and I don’t expect you to repeat the offense.”

“It will be worth it,” Seven replied, turning to head for the nearest corner.

“One hour,” Kathryn called after her, shaking her head with a soft little chuckle.

“Time is irrelevant,” Seven said cheekily, placing herself in the required position with her nose in the corner.

“Oh, you’re asking for it, my dear, sweet girl.” Kathryn went to Seven’s replicator and made sure the blonde could hear her. “Computer, one leather belt, thirty-two inches in length, two inches in width and two millimeters in thickness.”

“ _Please state the composition of the buckle_ ,” the replicator chimed.

Kathryn snorted. She didn’t give a shit what type of metal the buckle was made of. “Nickel,” she said arbitrarily.

The requested item materialized and she picked it up, hefting it in her hands, stretching it and twisting to test its durability. Satisfied, she addressed the frozen Borg. “Come here, now.”

“Yes, Captain.” Needless to say, the cheekiness had vanished. Seven walked to her and stood at attention, blue eyes locked on the implement in her hands.

“Do you have anything to say?”

Seven’s eyes never left the belt as she replied. “I am uncertain.”

“Uncertain about what to say or uncertain about my using this belt on your backside?”

“Uncertain about what to say,” Seven breathed out heavily.

“Why are your eyes anywhere other than my face or the floor?” Kathryn asked, allowing a sharp edge to creep into her voice. “You are being punished. Behave accordingly.”

Seven’s head immediately bowed, eyes on the floor. “I am sorry, Captain.” Now she was breathless.

“Remove your biosuit and bend over the closest cargo container.”

“Yes, Captain.” Seven’s hands flew to her zipper and she employed perfect efficiency in removing her shoes and suit and setting them on the floor. “Shall I replace my shoes?”

“No.”

She nodded and lifted her eyes to scan for the nearest cargo container, walked briskly to it and bent over, pulling out her hair pins as she did so.

Kathryn noted the black lace bra and panties with appreciation but kept any comment to herself. She also noted Seven trying to earn points by releasing her hair and she snickered quietly. It was an admirable goal, but as Seven would say, irrelevant. “Why are you being punished?”

“Because I was insolent.”

“Not just that,” Kathryn told her. “You won’t always be punished for being insolent. In fact, your insolence can be quite endearing, but there’s a time. When you’re already being sent to the corner is not the time. Agreed?”

“Agreed, Captain.”

“Do you have any objection to my choice of implement?”

“No, Captain.” Seven answered almost before she’d even finished the question.

Kathryn grinned and stepped up to place a kiss on a bare shoulder blade. “You might object in a few minutes, little Borg.”

Seven shivered, but from the kiss or her words she couldn’t be sure.

Kathryn hooked her fingers in the waistband of those black lace panties and slowly tugged them down to her knees, the sight of Seven’s alluring backside making her swallow harder than normal.

Seven gasped, pressing her face into her forearm.

“You understand that I am not ashamed or angry; that I am punishing you because you misbehaved and I am offering correction?”

“Underst—yes, Captain, I understand.”

How very, very human. “Hold on to the other edge of the container.”

Seven’s quick compliance sent a shiver down her spine. Could this woman be any more perfect? She found it ironic that Seven constantly quested for something she already possessed. Although she supposed perfection was subjective, and what she found to be perfect may not match up with Seven’s understanding of the term.

“This is going to hurt you more than a spanking with my hand,” she announced, shaking herself out of her brief reverie. “But you are going to take it well. I expect you to hold still and not put up a fuss. You may cry, of course, but you have earned this punishment and I do not expect you to complain.”

“Yes, Captain. I will be—I will be a good girl,” Seven said, a choked quality to her voice that, combined with her words, twisted Kathryn’s cunt into a hot, wet mess.

She schooled her reaction and let her own voice drop low. “See that you are. I am going to begin. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Captain.”

She barely heard the response because Seven had pressed her face into her arm again.

Straightening up and moving into the easiest position to proceed, Kathryn folded the belt in half, clamping her hand down on it a few times to get a good crease, and when she was satisfied with the result she laid the leather against Seven’s bottom, drew her arm back, and snapped it forward with a flourish and a flick of her wrist.

The cargo container cracked under Seven’s left hand and a surprised cry reached her ears, but Seven didn’t move.

She was about to lay down the second stroke when Seven spoke in a rush. “Captain, there is a hypospray on the console behind us that contains a temporary nanoprobe suppressant. Your punishment will have a more lasting effect if you choose to inject it.”

Kathryn turned and picked up the hypospray. “Are there risks to using this?”

“There are risks to everything,” Seven replied. “The nanoprobe suppressant is not unique in that regard.”

Kathryn’s jaw dropped. “Are you really choosing to be flippant right at this moment, Seven?”

“No,” Seven said desperately. “No, Captain, no. I am sorry.”

“Sorry because it came out sounding flippant or sorry because you chose to be flippant?”

“Sorry because I did not anticipate that you would find the response to be flippant. I will be more careful, Captain. Please do not be upset with me.”

“I’m not upset,” Kathryn said a bit more gently. “Let me ask the question a different way. Are there any undue or grievous risks to using this suppressant?”

“I do not believe so, Captain. I cannot be certain, but I suffered no ill effects from my previous injection.”

Kathryn considered that and finally nodded. “You may inject it yourself. I appreciate your desire to feel more acutely but I cannot in good conscience be the one to inject you.”

Seven reached her hand out without moving the rest of her body, remaining bent over the cargo container. Kathryn pressed the instrument into her hand and watched her bring it to her neck; heard the hissing sound as the suppressant deployed. She took the empty container back and replaced it in its home on the console behind her before returning her full attention to the Borg.

“How quickly does it take effect?”

“Immediately, Captain.”

“Then I will proceed.” She brought her hand back again, snapping the belt forward with considerable strength. Her teeth clenched at the sound of leather on flesh. On Seven’s flesh. The thought was almost too erotic to contemplate, and the little yelp she drew from the Borg was equally as appealing.

The belt landed again and again, bright red stripes criss-crossing Seven’s bare bottom and the backs of her thighs. Seven was being very good and Kathryn was impressed. The cargo container had suffered heavy casualties but Seven held still. She cried quietly but did not complain. She was whimpering with every stroke by the time Kathryn reached the count of twenty, and she longed to take Seven in her arms and kiss her tears away.

“Five more,” she said, keeping the gentleness out of her voice for just a bit longer. “Do you think you can tolerate five more?”

Seven sniffled and remained still except for the slight nod of her head. “Yes, please, Captain.”

 _Please_? “Explain your use of the word please in this context,” Kathryn requested.

“I do not wish for the punishment to be over,” Seven sniffed.

“And why is that?”

“I do not know how to explain it, Captain. I only know I wish to be punished until I am reminded of my transgression each time I attempt to move or breathe.”

Seven’s incredibly submissive response staggered Kathryn to the point she nearly moaned aloud. Maybe she should have argued, but she knew she wasn’t going to from the moment Seven said please. “All right. Twenty more. You won’t be able to sit, should you suddenly develop the desire to do so, and movement will re-ignite the fire in your ass.” She resumed the spanking, her arm aching by the time she finished the fortieth stroke.

Seven was a shuddering mess across the cargo container, half of the opposite side crushed to dust by metal-enhanced fingers. She was crying hard; harder than she had the last time, but Kathryn could hear the catharsis in her heaving sobs.

She ran a hand up Seven’s back after dropping the belt, speaking gently to her now. “I believe that will be sufficient.”

Seven didn’t speak for a moment, just continuing to cry it out, but finally she asked between sobs, “was I a good girl, Captain?”

“Ohh, yes,” Kathryn said instantly. “You were a very good girl. I couldn’t have asked you to be any better. I am so, so proud of you, Seven.” She wound a hand in Seven’s sweaty hair, squeezing and releasing in a soothing pattern.

When Seven’s crying didn’t subside she carefully pulled up the blonde’s panties and brought Seven to the floor with her, finding a semi-comfortable spot to lie down, holding her close.

Seven’s sobs increased if anything and she curled herself against Kathryn, pressing her face to the crook of Kathryn’s neck.

Kathryn suddenly realized that these cries were reminiscent of that first day in the brig, when Seven had broken down over being severed from the collective and forced to face reintegrating herself into human society. She had a feeling that now… the tears were for those eighteen years lost. She was always so forthcoming about her experience but didn’t often speak about it with any level of emotion, and Kathryn had been wondering if this day would come. The moment Seven was human enough again to regret those missing years. To mourn her parents; her childhood; her adolescence… her freedom of thought and action.

“I—I—”

“Shh,” Kathryn interrupted, stroking her hair and kissing wherever she could reach without shifting their position. “You don’t have to talk, Seven. I understand. I’m right here and I won’t let go.”


	12. Chapter 12

Some time later, Seven had finally calmed, but neither of them had moved. Kathryn’s back was starting to ache and she didn’t even want to hazard a guess at how Seven’s body must be feeling. She also wasn’t going to get Seven dressed or make her walk the corridors, so she tapped her combadge. “Captain to Mr. Kim.”

“Go ahead, Captain.”

“I need a site-to-site transport for myself and Seven from cargo bay two to my private quarters.”

“Aye, Captain. Stand by.”

A few seconds later they were in her quarters, still on the floor but at least it was carpeted, and she sealed the doors. “Computer, seal the doors to the captain’s quarters, authorization Janeway delta four.”

“ _Doors sealed_.”

“Let’s get you into bed,” Kathryn murmured, slowly getting to her feet with an achy groan and helping Seven up, her heart wrenching at the whimper it caused.

She put Seven’s arm around her shoulders so she could support the Borg during the short walk to the bed.

“On your stomach, sweet girl,” she said as they reached it, helping Seven get situated.

“Rule number two,” Seven protested with a sniffle even as she crawled forward and lowered herself to her stomach.

“We’ll get to that in a moment,” Kathryn said fondly, going to the replicator for a glass of water. She asked for a straw as well and popped it in the glass so Seven wouldn’t have to sit up to drink. When she turned around, Seven was struggling to unsnap her bra. “Stop,” she instructed.

Seven’s hands stilled and then fell to her sides.

“I admire your stringency in adhering to my rules, and quite frankly it’s rather stimulating, but right now all I want you to do is lie there and relax. I will remove your underthings after you’ve had some water.” She approached the bed and sat on the edge, offering the straw to her lover.

Seven wrapped her lips around the straw and drank about half the glass. “Thank you, Captain,” she said, her voice raw and raspy from crying.

“Hydration is relevant,” Kathryn said with a little smile, setting the glass on Seven’s nightstand—or the nightstand on the side of the bed Seven had been occupying. She undid the Borg’s bra and Seven slid her arms out, then Kathryn pulled it from under her and tossed it onto the lounger. “I’ll be very careful with your underwear,” she promised, working just her index fingers with great care under the waistband and lifting the elastic away from Seven’s skin before lowering them down and off. The panties joined the bra on the lounger and Kathryn ran a hand up and down Seven’s back, her eyes drawn to the purpling welts and glaring red marks across Seven’s bottom and thighs.

“Thank you, Captain,” Seven whispered. “The care with which you touch me is appreciated.”

“I have something for you,” Kathryn said, suddenly remembering the painting. Given the depth of Seven’s emotions that evening about her assimilation and loss of childhood, perhaps the gift would be well timed.

“What?” Surprise tinted the blonde’s raspy voice.

“I was restless this afternoon with nothing to do on the bridge so I spent some time in the holodeck, and I made you something. A painting.”

“Captain, I have cried enough for one evening,” Seven said breathlessly.

“Should I wait until tomorrow?” Kathryn teased.

“No,” Seven said quickly. “I will manage.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kathryn replied with a chuckle. “I’ll be right back; it’s in the anteroom.”

She was maybe a little nervous to give the gift to her lover, but she pushed that aside and went to retrieve the painting, holding it facing herself as she returned to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed again.

“I hope you like it,” she said, holding her breath as she turned it around for Seven to see and handed it to her. “It’s the cube where we met.”

Seven’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she scanned the text and took in the picture, then ran her fingers lightly across the canvas. She pushed up onto her knees with a gasp of pain and leaned toward Kathryn but stopped. “Please,” she exhaled sharply. “Please may I kiss you, Captain?”

“Oh yes,” Kathryn replied, stomach quivering when Seven finally asked permission.

Seven’s lips were on hers, hungry, demanding, and just as possessively as she liked to think she kissed Seven.

Her breath was lost for a moment, along with her restraint, and she moaned into Seven’s mouth.

Gradually the kiss lost intensity and melted into something much sweeter until Seven’s lips were simply touching hers as their foreheads rested together. “The painting is acceptable?” she whispered with a tiny grin.

“Even if I remembered any of the gifts I received before my assimilation, this would be my most treasured possession,” Seven replied, still clutching the painting in one hand.

That made Kathryn realize something and she made a little humming sound. “We need to celebrate your birthdays, all the way from seven up to twenty-eight.”

“I do not know my birthday, Captain,” Seven said, looking away.

“I’ll search the Starfleet database. Don’t worry,” Kathryn assured her, laying a hand on her cheek. “Let me put that on the bureau and you can take it with you in the morning.”

Seven was obviously reluctant to let it go but she relinquished the painting, lying back down on her stomach as Kathryn put it on her bureau.

She returned to the bed and removed her shoes, jacket and trousers before climbing in. Seven was shifting, trying to get comfortable, and the blonde let out a pitiful little whimper when she apparently could not.

“I know,” Kathryn murmured, moving close and kissing Seven’s shoulder as she started rubbing the Borg’s back. Her palm laid flat and skated in firm but gentle circles. “I know, sweet girl. It hurts.”

“Yes, Captain.” Seven’s voice sounded small and vulnerable, but not upset—at least Kathryn couldn’t read any regret in her tone.

“Tell me how it hurts,” she prompted, her voice dropping a little.

Seven turned her head sideways to look at Kathryn, a surprised expression giving way to something much darker as they shared a breath. “My captain spanked me,” she finally said. “With a belt.”

“That sounds a little barbaric,” Kathryn whispered, stomach fluttering wildly. “Did you deserve it?”

“Yes,” Seven said with quiet confidence. “My prescribed punishment was twenty-five strokes but I requested a greater number.”

“Oh?” Kathryn asked, one eyebrow arching as she switched from rubbing Seven’s back with her palm to drawing patterns with one fingernail. “Why did you do that?”

“Unknown. I merely felt I needed it.”

“I see. And she used a belt? That’s not very nice,” Kathryn didn’t say so much as she purred.

“It was perfection. You should not question her,” Seven issued a reprimand.

Kathryn’s ruse crumbled at that and she couldn’t help a chuckle, dragging her fingernail more sharply down Seven’s spine and watching the Borg shudder. “Perfection, huh?”

“Yes, Captain. And now it burns and throbs in a most pleasantly unpleasant manner.”

Well that was certainly an oxymoron she could appreciate. “If it’s too painful to sleep, you can regenerate instead,” she offered, playing with Seven’s hair.

“I do not wish to be apart from you,” Seven said quickly. “Please.”

“It’s not an order,” Kathryn shook her head. “I don’t want to be apart from you, either.”

Seven looked surprised again and it dawned on Kathryn that she didn’t exactly wear her heart on her sleeve any more than their resident Borg.

“Seven, do you get… _enough_ … from me?” she asked.

“Yes,” Seven answered simply.

Kathryn’s brows furrowed. “You don’t want me to elaborate?”

“In any manner to which you are referring, I get enough from you, Captain. I certainly get enough spanking,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Seven!” Kathryn barked out a laugh and leaned down to kiss her shoulder. “But… telling you how I feel or what I think, do I do that enough?”

Seven’s blue eyes were radiant. “Communication does not always require words, Captain. Though you have specified verbally when you are proud of me, you also communicate to me with your eyes, your face and your body. I do not always require you to speak directly in order to understand. Often the words you do use, while indirect, are revealing.”

Kathryn mulled that over for a minute and then asked for clarification. “For example?”

“For example, when you say ‘hydration is relevant’, I understand that you care for my health and wish to make sure I do not suffer from dehydration. When you ask if there are risks to using a nanoprobe suppressant, I understand that you would never wish to harm me; that you value my existence. When you drag me out of my alcove and embrace me, I understand that you are happy to see me. Do you require more examples?”

A warmth settled over Kathryn’s entire body and she shook her head almost dreamily. “No, that will be sufficient,” she said softly, running her fingers through Seven’s hair. “If there is ever anything you need from me that you’re not getting, it’s a standing order that you inform me. Explicitly and with words. Agreeable?”

Seven closed her eyes and let out a tiny rumble of sound when Kathryn touched her hair, then offered a nod. “That is agreeable, Captain. And in case you wish to know, that standing order speaks very loudly of your feelings toward me. I could not ask for a better…”

The look on Seven’s face as she let her sentence trail off could only be described as sudden panic. Kathryn stepped in before it could become an issue. “A better mate?” she whispered.

Seven exhaled sharply, her features relaxing, and she nodded. “Yes, Captain. A better mate.” 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deleted the interlude because I should have known better than to spend so much time and energy trying to placate someone that had no hope of understanding a D/s dynamic. I don't regret having posted it, but I don't think it's necessary to keep.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been supportive and who is enjoying this story! I appreciate all of you so very much and I am very happy with all of the discussions that have come out of this fic despite how some of them have turned out.
> 
> I will not be cowed into changing the unapologetic way in which I portray this D/s relationship between KJ and Seven.

Seven had drifted off within ten minutes or so, but an hour later and Kathryn was no closer to sleep. Finally she gave up with a frustrated sigh and slipped her hand into her underwear to gently rub herself. She slowly worked herself up until she was wet enough to go inside, hips shifting to accommodate her fingers. She had her eyes closed, and as her breathing was starting to labor she heard a gasp that alerted her to the fact that she’d woken Seven. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said breathily, turning her head to the side and opening her eyes. Her fingers stilled but she didn’t remove them.

Seven looked… hungry. Ravenous, perhaps. Her jaw was clenched and her nostrils flared slightly, her eyes on fire. She spoke with halting grace. “Captain. You are touching yourself.”

Kathryn’s cheeks flared hot but she held Seven’s gaze. “I am.” There was an inflection in those two words that implied the question ‘ _is that a problem for you_?’ while simultaneously saying ‘ _it had better not be_ ’.

“Proceed.”

“I don’t need your permission to proceed,” Kathryn chortled. “We are in my bed, in my quarters, on my ship.”

Seven’s face flushed and her words tumbled out over each other. “No, Cap—that is not—I was only—it was a plea to continue, not a presumption that you required my permission!”

“Well, that is good news indeed,” Kathryn said with a smirk.

Seven’s eyes were still incendiary. “May I watch?” She indicated the blankets with an incline of her head toward them.

“No,” Kathryn said, arching a brow. “The blankets will stay where they are.”

Seven seemed frustrated but she behaved above reproach, giving the slightest nod in response and containing her voice to something soft. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn felt the spontaneous urge to reward Seven for her behavior. “I’m proud of you, Seven,” she whispered. “I won’t let you watch, but if you like, you can rest a hand on my arm and feel my movements. Is that agreeable?”

Seven’s voice came out broken, like a hail through interference. “Capt—ye—please, yes.”

Kathryn’s fingers twitched inside herself and she gave her lover a nod. “Go ahead.”

Seven’s left hand disappeared beneath the blanket and she felt a hesitant touch on her forearm, the cool metal soothing on her overheated skin.

“Good girl,” she hummed, starting to move her fingers. “Can you feel the way I’m moving?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“I don’t masturbate very often but it seems a certain Borg has me constantly worked up these days…”

“I think you would find that certain Borg to be overtly willing to learn what pleases you, Captain, and perform accordingly,” Seven half whispered, half gasped.

Kathryn moaned at the idea but quickly shook her head. “No. It’s not your responsibility to take care of me, sweet girl,” she said as she withdrew her fingers and pushed in again, just hard enough to make her teeth grind.

She could feel Seven’s restraint. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn brought herself off quickly, a few soft sounds escaping as she reached the edge. Touching herself with Seven’s hand on her arm intensified the experience and left her a bit breathless. She had to know what Seven was thinking; she couldn’t read those crystal blue eyes. “What is it, Seven?” she asked after a minute, her voice surprisingly normal, if quiet.

“It is nothing, Captain,” Seven replied, looking away.

“I’m not having it,” Kathryn informed her. “If it were nothing, I wouldn’t have needed to ask. What are your eyes trying to tell me?”

Seven still didn’t look at her and the response didn’t come right away. She got the sense that Seven was rousing her courage and wondered if this was something she wasn’t going to like to hear. “Captain, I—I did not mean to seem petulant. I am grateful for the touch you allowed me.”

“Seven, I wouldn’t have asked what you’re thinking if I didn’t genuinely want to know,” Kathryn said gently, drying her fingers on the sheet before reaching to hold Seven’s jaw in her hand.

Seven’s nostrils flared as she inhaled and her lips parted. Kathryn could feel her shaking. “ _Fuck_ ,” the Borg hissed.

Kathryn gasped, her eyebrows hitting the roof. “What?” she demanded on an exhale.

Seven started to shake more noticeably, her eyelids fluttering, seemingly torn between open wide and shut tight. “I can smell you, Captain, and my salivary gla—my mouth is watering. It is taking an unprecedented amount of self-control not to suck your fingers into my mouth and treat them like a—” 

“Oh God,” Kathryn groaned, thighs clenching. “Don’t you dare.”

“Yes, Captain,” Seven breathed.

“Don’t forget to answer the question.”

“You stated that it is not my responsibility to take care of you. Is it your intention that I never be permitted to touch you?”

Kathryn’s insecurities flared hot in her chest. “Are you saying you _want_ to touch me? That it’s a desire and not a feeling of obligation?”

“Do you understand me at all, Captain?” Seven asked with obvious irritation.

Kathryn’s jaw dropped and she sat up, gripped Seven’s hair, and slapped her face. “I am trying to make sure you don’t feel obligated to do something you’d regret afterward and you’re going to speak to me like that?” she seethed.

Seven looked stunned, and she didn’t move or speak for several long moments, just staring at Kathryn with wide eyes as her chest visibly heaved.

Kathryn didn’t know if Seven was sorry or angry. She watched a red mark bloom on the blonde’s pale cheek and fought her own arousal at the sight. Now was not the time. She simply sat there and waited.

Finally Seven sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth and started to cry.

Kathryn waited still; she needed to know if the tears were a precursor to an apology or if they were a result of the slap. Her reaction would depend on which.

“You should punish me,” Seven said shakily. “You should send me to cargo bay two and never allow me in your bed again.”

So it was self-recrimination. That Kathryn could not abide. “I will decide if and when to punish you and what that punishment should look like,” she said sharply. “You are not permitted to punish yourself. Do you recall what I told you the last time you tried it?”

“That I should not be ashamed of myself, Captain. That I should feel free to fail, knowing that you will take care of it and teach me better for the next time.” A few tears slid down her cheeks, one of them bisecting the red mark on her face.

“Exactly,” Kathryn said, her voice still hard. “It is not your job to make decisions for me. If I hadn’t already spanked you until you could not sit, I would do so now to dispel your presumption. You were rude; insolent; disrespectful, and I slapped your face. There is not a thing you could say or do, Seven of Nine, that would cause me to separate myself from you in the manner you suggested. You _will_ continue to make mistakes and I will continue to punish you as I see fit. Do not suggest to me again that I should banish you from my side or my bed. If the day comes that you are no longer kneeling at my feet, it will be only because _you_ have chosen to no longer pursue this aspect of our relationship. Is that perfectly clear?”

Seven was shaking pretty hard by the time she stopped scolding and she knew her message had been received. “Yes, Captain, I’m sorry!”

She pulled the distressed Borg into her arms and kissed Seven’s forehead. “You should be sorry,” she said, affection bleeding into her voice. “My heart tried to choke me when you said I should send you away.”

“I caused you distress!”

“Yes, you did. But not with your insolence. Only with your harsh words about the woman I care for.”

Seven curled into her. “It will not happen again, Captain. I—I promise.”

As far as she could remember, Seven had never used the word promise before, and its implications touched her so deeply that she almost forgot why she was displeased in the first place. She kissed Seven’s forehead again and held her quietly for a few minutes, then spoke much more gently. “Please state your response to that pretty face being slapped.”

Seven’s breath quickened; her body tensed. “Positive, Captain.”

“Elaborate.”

“I felt physical pain at the point of impact, Captain, but as the sensation traveled through my body it transformed to a pleasant tingling sensation, and as it reached my abdominal area it transformed again to a tightness… a hot, wet tightness, Captain. It aroused me considerably, though I attempted not to allow it to do so because it was a reprimand. I was unsuccessful in my attempt.”

“You are going to be my undoing,” Kathryn groaned.

Seven picked her head up. “Captain?”

“You are the single most arousing being in the history of existence, Seven. As the dominant figure in this subunit of our relationship, I temper my outward reactions in order to better focus on yours. How would it look for me to come apart when I’m supposed to be guiding you? Commanding you? Directing you? When you say things like that, my tightly-wound control slips and I feel inadequate as an authority figure.”

She watched in amazement as the tiniest of smirks pulled at Seven’s mouth.

“I’ll slap you again,” she said with her own smirk, her words holding little weight.

Seven schooled her features. “My opinion of your competence in dominating me will not falter upon seeing your humanity, Captain. In fact, I believe it would only serve to heighten the experience, for each of us.” She paused, staring intently into Kathryn’s eyes. “If you do not react to me, I will not know whether you find me worth your dominance.”

Kathryn’s breath threatened to leave her as she stared at Seven in impressed disbelief. “Well spoken, my dear,” she said, her throat dry. “Your perspective is enlightening. Thank you for choosing to share it with me. I’ll try to lower my guard a little where you are concerned.”

“I am sorry I was insolent, Captain. I should have appreciated your concern instead of scorning it. Additionally, the sentiment I expressed was not indicative of my actual beliefs. I am aware that you understand me unconditionally and accept me as a whole, my flaws included.”

“We all have flaws, sweet girl,” Kathryn said fondly, capturing Seven’s lips in a gentle kiss. “Should we try my question again?”

“Allow me to answer as I should have,” Seven replied, her eyes drifting closed. “There was nothing I desired more than to touch you as I felt you touch yourself, Captain. Even now my breath quickens and my heart races at the very thought of it. I wish to feel your—” She paused, exhaling sharply through her nose. “To feel your cunt around my fingers, to unravel you piece by piece as you so easily do to me. I wish to taste you on my lips and tongue, to be surrounded by you and drown in the realization that you are _wet_ for me. I wish to have the privilege of being the only—”

“Stop,” Kathryn gasped, her hips jerking, her body on fire. “Stop…” She put a finger to Seven’s lips and just tried to breathe through the rugged onslaught of emotion and pure guttural pleasure that Seven’s words provoked. “I get the picture. You’re about to kill me, Seven. Give me a moment.”

Seven’s eyes danced; she looked pleased with herself, but not in a smug way, Kathryn noted, amazed that her higher brain functions were even working at all. “Kill you with words, Captain?” she murmured around Kathryn’s finger.

“Words are incredibly powerful,” Kathryn replied, tapping Seven’s lips with her fingertip. “I said shh.”

Seven licked the tip of her finger.

“Are you trying to make me slap you again?” she hissed in surprise, blinking at the blonde’s audacity.

Blue eyes held hers, unmistakable desire sparking in the air between them. “Yes.”

She coughed out her surprise, having expected Seven to backtrack and apologize, but the answer fueled the heat between her legs and she grabbed Seven by the hair again. “Allow me to oblige.”

This time her palm landed softer and Seven growled at her, obviously displeased.

She laughed, wondering who was supposed to be in charge here, and slapped the Borg again, harder than the first two combined.

Seven moaned and pushed up onto her hands and knees, a whimper escaping at the movement which no doubt flared the condition of her backside. “Please let me touch you, Captain,” she gasped.

“Oh no,” Kathryn said, shaking her head and giving Seven’s hair a squeeze. “Not tonight. Not after your behavior.”

Seven dropped to her elbows and buried her face in her pillow, a muffled shout of frustration reaching Kathryn’s ears, and then Seven was on her stomach again with the pillow clutched firmly over her head.

How precious could this creature be and how was Kathryn supposed to endure it without dissolving to pieces and giving her everything she wanted? “Seven of Nine, take your head out from under your pillow.”

Seven complied, facing away from Kathryn.

“Do you think you deserve to be allowed to touch me after the way you spoke to me a little while ago?”

Seven was quiet for so long that Kathryn wondered if she was being ignored, but then the answer came and she melted all over again.

“No, Captain. I’ll be a good girl.”

“You _are_ a good girl,” Kathryn promised, rubbing Seven’s shoulder. “You can put your head back under your pillow now if you like.”

Seven did.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is angsty, I'm sorry! But come on every fic has to have an angsty chapter and this is necessary for both of them to move forward. =D

Kathryn woke in the middle of the night to Seven’s restless shifting. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked to clear her vision, turning her head to see if Seven was awake.

The blonde was asleep on her back and Kathryn bit her lip at the adorable picture before her, the beautiful, naked woman in her bed squirming around on a well-spanked bottom. She reached over with careful ease, taking Seven by the shoulder and tugging until the Borg was on her stomach again. She watched with fascination as the discomfort on her lover’s sleeping face melted away and the constant shifting quieted.

She waited a few minutes to make sure Seven wasn’t going to turn over again, at least not right away, and then settled back in for sleep herself.

***

The alarm blared in her ear at 0500 and when she went to roll over toward it and hit snooze, her arm wouldn’t move. She shot her right arm out awkwardly and managed to shut the damn thing up, then glanced down to see Seven sprawled on top of her left one. A smile instantly curled her lips and she just gazed for a moment, enjoying the feeling of waking up like this.

Too soon reality crept in and she brought her free hand over to stroke through Seven’s hair.

It took a minute, but Seven finally stirred, and when clarity dawned in sleepy blue eyes the Borg blinked and slid over to her own side of the bed, a blush on her cheeks.

Kathryn shook out her arm, which was numb at first and then filled with pins and needles, but she rolled onto her side and pulled Seven close again, kissing the back of her head. “Don’t worry, little Borg. Rule number three doesn’t apply when you’re asleep.”

Seven relaxed in her arms and even went so far as to snuggle closer, making Kathryn sigh with utter contentment. “Good morning, Captain,” the Borg whispered.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” Kathryn replied. “Will you be able to attend your duty shift today, do you think?”

Seven looked horrified. “I would never miss a duty shift, Captain. My physical discomfort is irrelevant.”

“Not to me it isn’t,” Kathryn said, raising an eyebrow. “How long before your nanoprobes reactivate?”

Seven glanced at the ceiling while making a brief calculation and then looked at Kathryn. “Three hours, thirty-six minutes and ten seconds.”

Kathryn sensed there was more coming. “But?”

“But I intend to suppress them again at that time.”

Kathryn blew out a slow breath, preparing for an argument. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Seven.”

The Borg stiffened. “Explain.”

“Watch it,” Kathryn snapped.

Seven settled. “Please explain,” she amended her demand to a request.

“We don’t know if there will be any long-term effects from using the suppressant, especially two consecutive doses.”

“I will use caution.”

“Seven…”

“Please, Captain. I do not wish for this sensation to subside more quickly than it would if I did not possess accelerated healing capabilities. I find it an important part of my humanity.”

Well how in the fuck was she supposed to say no now? “I’ll tell you what. If you speak to the doctor and explain what you want to do; ask his opinion and maybe let him perform some scans, and he gives the green light, I will sanction it.”

Seven’s jaw clenched, a war playing out behind her eyes, but then she lowered her gaze and nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

“Oh… good girl,” Kathryn purred, having been unsure of the reaction her caveat would bring. “How _is_ your bottom, by the way?” she then asked, her voice dropping a little low in pitch.

Seven’s mouth worked for a moment without words and she looked curiously at Kathryn. “Very sore,” she answered with a raise of her ocular implant. “There is a dull throb across my backside and thighs at all times which becomes sharper with movement. Your prowess with a belt is quite formidable, Captain.”

“I wasn’t looking for a compliment,” Kathryn chuckled, “but thank you.” The alarm made her jump and she growled at it, debating throwing it across the room, but ultimately she just turned it off. “I wish we could stay in bed all day,” she lamented.

“As do I,” Seven echoed the sentiment. “May I get dressed, Captain?”

Kathryn nodded grudgingly. “You may.”

***

“Captain, I don’t think it’s wise.”

“Why not?” Seven demanded hotly.

Kathryn held up a hand. “Quiet, Seven. Let him speak.”

“Thank you,” the doctor said, nodding to her in that way of his. “I was going to explain before I was rudely interrupted. Now, Seven still has a small percentage of Borg physiology that needs those nanoprobes to function. Granted, they don’t need to be active twenty-four hours a day, but they also should not be inactive for more than twenty-four hours at a time. I would recommend at least a four-hour window between the time one dose wears off and the time the next is injected.”

“It is _my_ body!” Seven shouted, taking a step toward the doctor.

“Last warning,” Kathryn said, holding up a finger to Seven without looking away from the doctor.

“Or what?” Seven continued to shout.

Kathryn counted to three in her head before attempting a response, and when she was still seething she counted to ten, forcing out a slow breath before fixing Seven with a very clear _look_.

“Computer, deactivate EMH,” the doctor said quickly.

As his holoimage dissolved, Kathryn’s cheeks flared with indignation at the Borg. “You are very lucky he did that,” she said, her voice low and full of dangerous promise.

Seven still looked angry, but at least she also looked nervous now to go along with it.

“I have never been more disappointed in you than I am right now, Seven.” Her voice lost the dangerous edge, replaced with an almost weary sadness. “Report to your duty shift, then report to cargo bay two and regenerate. I do not wish to see you for the remainder of the day. When I am ready, I will retrieve you from your alcove. And it should go without saying that you are not to re-suppress your nanoprobes. If I find you have done so, you will be confined to quarters tomorrow as well.”

Seven crumbled, falling to her knees, but Kathryn was not going to put up with this. She left Seven on her knees without another glance and returned to the bridge.

“Kathryn?” Chakotay asked immediately when she sank into her chair nearly in tears.

“I’m all right,” she said quietly.

“The captain may be all right, but my friend is not,” Chakotay said gently. “What’s wrong, Kathryn?”

“I sent her away for the rest of the day and it’s already killing me.”

“I’m sure if you did that then you had a good reason.”

“Yes, but try telling that to my chest. I feel like I can’t breathe. And the look on her face, Chakotay…”

“She’ll get through it and so will you,” Chakotay said with that quiet confidence he always seemed to possess. “And hopefully she’ll behave better for it.”

“I don’t know,” Kathryn said, running her hands over her face. “I don’t know.” She shook her head and clapped her hands. “All right. Tell me there’s something to do today, Ensign Ward.”

***

Kathryn thanked every deity she could name that they were approaching a trade station. They needed the supplies and she needed the distraction.

“Hello, Minister,” she said, extending a hand to the proprietor of the station. Each store was autonomous as a business, but there was a minister that handled security and things like that for the entire station.

“Pleased,” he said, refusing the handshake but politely bowing his head.

Kathryn took her hand back, trying not to look awkward about it, and returned the polite head nod. “Myself as well. May we peruse the shops or is there more to the security protocols?”

“You are free to peruse,” the minister said. “Please note that we catch any and all thieves. You would not wish to experience Halarian justice, I assure you.”

“We have no intention of stealing anything,” she replied, her eyebrows lifting. “The implication is rather offensive, I must say.”

“Nothing personal, Madam. I give the same warning to everyone.”

She nodded in his direction without saying anything further and led the away team onto the main deck of the station. “Spread out. You all know what you’re looking for and what you’re authorized to trade for it,” she said, and went to find herself some dilithium.

***

Five hours later she had found some and was deep in negotiations to obtain it. “What about warp coils?”

“I have no ship.”

“You could sell them to someone with a ship.”

“No.”

This was going poorly. “Food supplies?”

“Do I look like I have a food shortage?”

She almost snorted at that. He did not indeed. “Well what in the hell _do_ you need? Medical supplies?”

“Do you have any medical supplies that I don’t already possess?”

The only thing she could think of was Borg nanoprobes. She’d try to find something else. “How about a shield emitter? You could protect your store when you’re not running it.”

It seemed she finally had his attention. “How would that work?”

Oh, thank God. “I’ll set it up for you and show you how to use it.”

“Make it two and you’ve got a deal. One for my shop and one for my home.”

“Very well; I can agree to that.”

***

All in all, it went very well. They got almost everything they needed, and Kathryn was distracted enough that she only thought of Seven about five hundred times. Had she been too harsh? No, she didn’t think so. But what would Seven be thinking and feeling right now? Being sent away must be awful. It didn’t matter that the Borg had brought it on herself… Kathryn’s guilt at her decision was eating a hole in her stomach.

At 1800 hours she passed the ship off to Harry, showered and dressed in plain black trousers and her Starfleet-issue turtleneck, and held her breath as she entered cargo bay two.

Seven was regenerating as directed and Kathryn’s heart lurched into her throat, her eyes misting as she stared at her lover. “I missed you today,” she whispered, taking a deep breath and forcing down her wild emotions before striding to Seven’s alcove and waking her.

“ _Warning. Regeneration cycle incomplete_.”

Seven’s eyes opened slowly and the moment she saw Kathryn she dropped to her hands and knees, crawling forward to press her face so hard into Kathryn’s thigh that she stumbled backward and almost fell. The blonde’s body shook with heaving sobs, her words coming out unintelligible.

“Stop,” Kathryn commanded. “Get up.” She didn’t put any particular investment into making her voice either harsh or soft. “You will not kneel until you can prove to me that it means something to you.”

Seven didn’t seem to be able to comply, her arms giving out, which put her forehead to the floor.

“I said get up, Seven,” Kathryn repeated, still withholding any meaningful inflection. “Crying will not show me you’re sorry. Compliance will.”

Seven struggled obviously with the directive and Kathryn knew how badly she wanted to be on the floor. She reached down and grabbed her by the arm, helping her comply.

“Stand at attention.”

Tears still streaked her face and her legs shook violently, but Seven stood up straighter and clasped her hands behind her back, lowering her chin and casting her eyes to the floor.

“You are not in charge.” She started to circle the Borg, slowly, appraising her stance as she went. “Say it.”

Seven’s voice was hoarse and miserable. “I am not in charge.”

“Unless that’s what you want. Is that what you want, Seven? To be in charge?”

“No, Captain.”

“Are you certain? Because your behavior today said you want to be in charge.”

“I am certain, Captain.”

“You behaved like a spoiled brat. Is that who you are?”

“No, Captain.”

“Is that who you want to be?”

“No, Captain.”

“I can handle a certain amount of insolence, and a few of your smaller tantrums were charming, but the way you spoke to me in sick bay this morning was unacceptable.”

Seven’s head snapped up, her eyes like supernovas. “My smaller _what_?”

Kathryn would have laughed if the situation weren’t so upsetting. “ _Tantrums_.” She raised an eyebrow, daring Seven to object.

Seven bowed her head again. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn looked at her; studied her; loved her, and brought a hand up to take her by the chin and force their eyes to meet. “Your behavior was hurtful, Seven.”

Seven gasped, fresh tears filling her eyes as she violently shook her head. “No, Captain, please. I’ll be better. I am so sorry… I’m sorry… please punish me… please forgive me… I’m so sorry!”

“Your behavior was hurtful,” Kathryn insisted, “and you are going to stand there and endure that fact while you look into my eyes and see the pain of having to spend the day apart from you. You will stand silently and endure it with grace, Seven of Nine, for as long as I will it.”

Seven’s entire body trembled and Kathryn knew she wanted to continue pouring her heart out, but the blonde took a very important step, forcing her mouth closed and standing at attention even though Kathryn could see how much it killed her to not be able to immediately make things right. Her apologies had sufficed before; now they would not. Such a change was a difficult ask, Kathryn knew. But she also knew that if she didn’t make this excruciating for Seven then she was much more likely to see a repeat of the behavior. And blatant disrespect was not a behavior she wished to see again.

“You nearly made me cry, Seven,” she said quietly, honestly, laying herself bare in the hope that it would have a lasting effect.

Seven made a loud, anguished sound at that but stood still and didn’t speak.

That was all Kathryn wished to say on the matter and she fell silent herself, allowing them to stand and stare at each other for the better part of an hour.

Finally, she broke the silence. “Are you going to disrespect me like that again? To shout at me and challenge the authority that you _gave_ me?”

Seven shuddered and her knees buckled but she got quickly back into position. “I will not, Captain,” she whispered.

“Like I said, your little tantrums can be quite charming, but they are a far cry from your hurtful behavior in sick bay. Do you understand the difference?”

She watched Seven swallow and prepare to answer. “While I would not refer to any of my mannerisms as tantrums, I do understand the difference, Captain. I was unhappy but obedient and did not disrespect you. In sick bay this morning I issued a challenge to your authority, the authority I gave to you, as you rightly said a moment ago, and my outburst was thoughtless and disrespectful. I do understand the difference and it will never, ever happen again, Captain. I feel… physically ill at having hurt you. I feel I may vomit at any moment, my stomach is churning so violently and my head is spinning. I cannot bear what I have done.”

“But you must bear it, as must I,” Kathryn said, her voice starting to gentle a bit. “You can’t say things like that and take them back. Once they’re voiced, they’re permanent.”

“I am so very sorry,” Seven said, her body language more subdued than Kathryn had ever seen it. Almost as if Seven was literally withdrawing into herself. She couldn’t have that.

“Kneel.”

Seven’s breath rushed out and she dropped to her knees with a painful thud, keeping her hands behind her back. The relief in her eyes was palpable; the withdrawal reversed. She seemed to reach out now instead of retreat.

“You have two options,” Kathryn said after a moment, still maintaining about a foot of distance between them. “A private whipping or a spanking in front of the doctor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, time to vote... which would you rather see? Seven get a whipping for her behavior or a spanking in front of the doctor? Majority wins.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, the majority of votes were for a spanking in front of the doctor, so that's what I went with. I will save the whipping for whatever Seven's next offense may be =D
> 
> Thanks for your opinions!

Kathryn wasn’t sure if she thought Seven looked surprised or afraid.

“A choice, Captain, after the way I behaved?” Seven finally asked softly.

“Not a simple choice, though,” Kathryn pointed out. “Is it?”

Seven’s eyes closed. “No, I suppose it isn’t. I do not know which to choose. I would like to choose whichever punishment you desire more to inflict.”

“Do you really think I’m going to make it that easy for you, Seven?” Kathryn looked down at her with one arched brow.

“Perhaps this is the true punishment,” Seven said with a thoughtful sigh.

“That viewpoint will be short lived,” Kathryn promised.

“Might I at least have your surface thoughts on each option?” Seven tried.

Kathryn couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “Very well. A whipping will be physically painful, which you deserve. However, you disrespected me in front of the doctor and it would be inherently gratifying to have him observe as you are put in your place.”

Seven swallowed slowly and exhaled through her nose. “I deserve both, Captain.”

“Seven…” Kathryn said in warning. She took exceptional pleasure in how hard it was for Seven to make a choice. All the more reason not to behave so poorly in the future.

Seven looked at her pleadingly but when she refused to budge, her own eyes looking back with hardened resolution, the blonde lowered her gaze to the floor. “I will take the spanking, Captain. I will be… embarrassed, but I suspect that is the point.”

“Embarrassment can be a good deterrent,” Kathryn agreed. She crossed to Seven’s replicator for a marker, then walked to the middle of the floor and drew a large ‘X’. “Change into a black knee-length dress, no shoes or underwear, and wait for me there,” she said, pointing the marker at the ‘X’ and then striding out of the cargo bay.

***

“I won’t be expected to participate, will I? Because that I won’t do.”

The doctor agreed more readily than Kathryn had anticipated, and she had the suspicious feeling that he wanted to see Seven punished for deactivating her nanoprobes more than he was concerned about disrespect, but it was all the same to Kathryn. She had his agreement; it didn’t much matter why. “No, of course not. Thank you, Doctor.”

“Is there anything I should say or not say?” he asked as she made to leave.

“I expect you’ll say what you like,” she told him with a smirk.

He gave her that smile that could go either way – smug or sheepish. “Very well.”

“Excellent. I’ll return with her shortly.”

***

Seven was in a short black dress with a flowy a-line skirt and tank style sleeves that stopped Kathryn short as soon as she stepped through the doors. Jesus. Coupled with the fact that the blonde was kneeling on the ‘X’ in the center of the room with her hair out of its confines, Kathryn had to remind herself to breathe. Hypoxia was not attractive.

She walked purposefully toward Seven, winding a hand in those luxuriously soft strands of blonde, forcing the Borg’s head back to look at her. “I see you’ve managed to follow directions to the letter. That is a good start to the evening.”

Seven’s pulse fluttered in her throat; Kathryn’s eyes were drawn to it. “Yes, Captain.”

“You understand that the doctor will be welcome to see your bare bottom if he chooses to look?”

Seven’s cheeks turned instantly red and her breath came stuttering out. “Ye—yes, Captain.”

Kathryn suspected the thought had not previously occurred to the Borg. “You will respond to him only if he addresses you directly, and you will call him ‘Sir’.”

Seven’s eyes went wide, her jaw dropping, and she just stared at Kathryn, apparently with nothing to say.

At just the moment Kathryn was sure she would be told where she could shove this subunit of their relationship, something changed in Seven’s demeanor, a subtle shift, and when the Borg spoke it blew Kathryn away.

“I will keep my insolent mouth shut unless addressed directly and I will call him ‘Sir’, or anything else you wish me to call him that brings you pleasure, Captain.”

She was fairly certain her eyes rolled back a little and the groan that reached her ears, she realized with a start, had come from her own throat. “That was a very good answer,” she said after quickly bringing herself to rein. “But do you mean it?”

“Yes, Captain. I will make you proud of me.”

“That remains to be seen,” Kathryn said, not quite willing to let her off the hook. Not until she backed her words up with actions.

Seven bowed her head when Kathryn released her hair. “Yes, Captain.” If she was disappointed, Kathryn couldn’t read it, and she had to admit a tiny sense of pride at her lover’s ability to suppress that disappointment.

“One more thing before we go. I expect your behavior and compliance to be exemplary. I do not expect to be questioned with words or expressions or hesitation. When I tell you to do something, you’ll do it immediately whether it embarrasses you or not. If there is even the slightest hint of disobedience or insolence, the slightest hint, Seven, I will cease the interaction and you will not be punished at all. You will have to proceed without absolution. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Seven trembled as she listened, her jaw giving the subtlest of quivers. Kathryn thought she was going to cry, but again Seven surprised her, opening blue eyes that were full of determination and fire. “Yes, Captain, I understand.”

Kathryn wondered if a promise or a placation was going to follow, and she was pleased when Seven knew well enough not to add it. “All right. Let’s go.”

***

She noticed that Seven kept her eyes on the floor from the moment they entered sick bay. Good. That probably meant she was embarrassed and didn’t want to look at the doctor. “Computer, seal the doors to sick bay, authorization Janeway delta pi.”

“ _Doors sealed_.”

The doctor looked up at the sound of her voice. “Welcome to my humble abode. Help yourself to the door locks,” he said with an arch of his brow.

“I will, thank you,” Kathryn replied with a chortle. She pulled a chair to one side of the room and sat, indicating for the doctor to do the same.

He obliged, placing his own chair far enough away to be respectful but not far enough to seem disapproving. Kathryn was quite satisfied with the effort.

Seven had not moved a muscle. “Come lie across my lap,” she said, her voice cutting into the thick air between them.

Seven got moving instantly. “Yes, Captain,” she offered, her voice a little shaky. She stopped at Kathryn’s side and carefully bent across her lap, placing her hands flat on the floor.

“Raise your dress.”

There was an almost inaudible whimper as Seven reached one hand back to comply. “Yes, Captain.” She pulled her dress up and rested the hem on her lower back, then replaced her palm on the floor.

Kathryn was certain that she did not want to see the doctor’s reaction to Seven’s perfect ass if he did choose to look, so she kept her eyes trained on Seven’s hand until it was once more pressed to the carpet and then moved her gaze to her lover’s naked skin. “Why are you being punished?”

Seven’s answer came instantly. “Because I was disrespectful to you, Captain, and my behavior was unacceptable.”

So far Kathryn was impressed. “Do you have anything to say before I begin?”

“Only that I regret my actions, Captain,” the Borg said quietly, “and I am grateful to both you and the doctor for allowing me the opportunity to atone.”

 _Well said_. “Do you have anything to say, Doctor?”

“Not at this time, Captain.”

“All right, then.” She lifted her right hand and brought it down hard, once on each of Seven’s nicely-healed cheeks.

A slight jump was the only response she received from her lover, and a slow smirk crept onto her face at the knowledge that that would soon change.

She spanked Seven twice more, firm and crisp, the sound of flesh on flesh echoing in the air around them.

She could feel Seven tempering her breathing, trying to stay cool, and she decided it was time to shatter the Borg’s calm. Her hand began to fall repeatedly, sticking to a rhythm so she didn’t catch her lover off guard. She wanted Seven to know what to expect and know exactly where Kathryn was going to take her.

She knew Seven could take quite a bit before any loss of composure would occur, but she wasn’t in a hurry. She just kept spanking. One after another after another, Seven’s skin starting to turn pink, then eventually red, and she got her first squirm.

“Hold still,” she admonished sharply, reveling in Seven’s sharp intake of breath.

“Yes, Captain,” the blonde choked out.

“I wonder if your face is as red as your ass.”

Seven gasped but kept her hips still as Kathryn continued raining down firm, sharp slaps.

She wasn’t going to continue into breakdown territory but she intended to get a few tears. Seven’s ego needed to suffer that much and she could tell the Borg was fighting it. Not out of defiance – she would be able to feel that in a heartbeat – but out of a need to cling to that last piece of decorum.

And she knew that Seven knew she would destroy it. She knew that Seven was counting on her to destroy it. And after she broke down every last wall she would pick up the pieces. She knew where they all had been and where to put them back.

Kathryn increased the pace of her hand even if she didn’t increase the force. The faster spanks were harder to take; left less time to prepare a defense between blows.

Seven struggled to hold on, Kathryn could feel it in every breath. “Stop,” she demanded, just one word, and Seven finally let herself burst into tears.

Kathryn kept spanking for just a few minutes, every slap stinging Seven’s bright red backside and the palm of her hand, bringing them closer together in the shared sensation – shared, but not equal. She knew most of the pain belonged to Seven.

As she wound things down she gentled her slaps, a sliding scale until she was doing nothing more than resting her hand still on Seven’s burning skin.

She had caught the doctor’s surprise out of the corner of her eye when Seven started to cry, and somehow that twisted her gut and inflamed her pride. _Yes, I made her cry. Yes, she gives me that power. That gift. This incredibly strong, independent woman gives me that gift_.

She let Seven cry it out, her free hand rubbing the blonde’s back through her dress while her slightly throbbing one continued to lie still. She could have lowered Seven’s dress back down but she didn’t. Perhaps the feeling of being exposed far past the heat of the moment would do some good for the Borg’s natural arrogance. Not that she ever wanted to see it go.

When Seven’s tears died down Kathryn lowered the dress and stood, helping Seven to her feet. She caught hands in hers that were going to wipe teary eyes and squeezed, shaking her head. When she let go, she didn’t realize she was holding her breath until Seven lowered her arms and placed her hands behind her back. Then Kathryn breathed.

She led Seven toward the doctor, who had grabbed a tissue and was now addressing her.

“Captain, may I?”

A little soft spot in her chest warmed at his thoughtfulness both for Seven and herself. She didn’t even consider denying the request, giving him a subtle nod. “Of course, Doctor.”

“Thank you, Captain.” He dabbed at Seven’s tears and wiped away a few little traces of smeared mascara, then smiled at the Borg. “Nothing to worry about, your raccoon eyes are gone,” he said gently.

Seven inclined her head to the floor once he was done. “Thank you, Sir.”

Kathryn barely heard her, but she’d said it. A shiver like no other snaked up her spine and rattled her brain.

She could tell the doctor was surprised again but he was nothing if not adaptive. “You are quite welcome. I trust I will not be witnessing another spectacle of such proportions in the future?”

Seven’s face was most assuredly as red as her ass, Kathryn decided as the Borg shook her head.

“No, Sir.”

There was a pause, and then…

“I am sorry, Sir.”

The doctor looked to Kathryn. She just shrugged at him, pride and affection warring for dominance at Seven’s little display.

“It’s quite all right,” the doctor replied smoothly. “Your sore backside will serve as a reminder, I’m sure.”

Seven’s breath quickened and Kathryn did not miss the way the Borg shifted closer to her, almost behind her.

She grinned at the doctor and mouthed ‘thank you’ before she unsealed the doors and led Seven out of sick bay. “Are you embarrassed or ashamed?” she asked as they walked.

Seven’s answer was quiet but unwavering. “Embarrassed, Captain. I thought my face would perhaps catch fire. But I am undeniably aroused as a result of my embarrassment. I hope that is acceptable.”

Kathryn laughed, steering her into cargo bay two. “It is.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter escalated quickly. Sometimes stories write themselves >D

As the doors whooshed shut after them, Kathryn moved behind Seven and pressed her face first into the wall, a hand up her dress and two fingers pressing into her before the blonde had a chance to breathe.

“Fuck!” Seven shouted, hands flying to the wall, her left one denting it.

“Don’t. Fucking. Move,” Kathryn hissed into her ear, biting the lobe until she left a mark and then trailing hot kisses down the side of Seven’s throat.

“Yes, Captain,” Seven gasped, fingers curling into the wall but unable to find purchase.

Kathryn could already feel the strain on tense muscles to keep the Borg still. Her forcible intrusion was accommodated with ease; Seven’s cunt was hot, and fuck if she wasn’t devastatingly wet. Kathryn’s fingers slipped all the way in and she kept them there the same way her body kept Seven against the wall. “This is mine,” she growled, squeezing with her whole hand – the two fingers inside and the rest splayed over the lower part of Seven’s spanked ass. “It’s mine, Seven, your cunt is mine, do you understand that?” Some vague part of her mind was aware she could be crossing a line she couldn’t uncross, but the endorphins flaring hot through her nerves would not allow her to care.

“Yes,” Seven panted with a loud, keening whine. “Yes, Captain, it—my—my _cunt_ is yours, I understand,” she added breathlessly, and Kathryn’s clit throbbed at the way she said the word ‘cunt’. Like it came from the wings of angels instead of the depths of depravity. She decided right then that she would never tire of hearing it.

“Say that again,” she demanded, pulling her fingers out and thrusting smoothly back in, relishing the quiver in Seven’s straining muscles; the Borg’s dwindling self-control.

“My cunt is yours, Captain,” Seven said it again without restraint.

“ _You_ are mine,” Kathryn insisted, too far gone to stop the possessive entitlement now. She thrust in again, marveling at Seven’s ability to remain stationary.

“I am yours,” Seven whispered. “Everything that I am.”

“And I am yours,” Kathryn murmured, burying her nose in Seven’s hair and breathing in deeply. “Everything that I am.”

“May I please move? I am finding it extremely difficult to hold still with your fingers inside me, Captain,” Seven asked after a moment of stillness.

A little sadistic thrill ran up her spine and she entertained the thought of allowing Seven to move, but the dark side drew too much power and she bit down hard on the blonde’s shoulder as her left hand snaked around to flick at Seven’s clitoris. “No. Move and I’ll stop.”

The noise Seven made was something Kathryn would have only expected to hear in her fantasies. She almost couldn’t describe it, the closest words being an unearthly howl. It reverberated around the inside of her skull and buckled her knees and she leaned into Seven for support.

“All right,” she gave in. “All right. Move.”

Seven’s hips rolled instantly, pressing down onto her fingers, seeking more. She let Seven set the pace for a split second before she took over again, slowly speeding up her thrusts until sweat started to form along the back of her neck from the exertion.

To her utter surprise, she suddenly felt cool metal on her back and she realized that Seven had reached an arm around, under her clothes, on her bare skin, pressing her closer.

It was too much. She snapped. Fisting a hand in Seven’s hair, she threw her to the floor and followed, hiking that dress up around writhing hips and burying her head between Seven’s legs as the sounds from the Borg escalated and amplified, surrounding every facet of her awareness. Nothing mattered except making Seven come. Taking care of her. Making her scream. Nothing else.

Seven shrieked and didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands, and Kathryn didn’t care when they tangled in her hair and pulled until it hurt. Her tongue was inside and her teeth scraped over a sensitive clit, and Seven shrieked again and pulled her hair again and clamped her thighs shut desperately as Kathryn tore an orgasm from her body.

Her senses of sight and touch were gone, overpowered by taste and sound; the fireworks of Seven’s screams pounding in her temples as the blonde’s come pooled on her tongue, sweet and salty and absolutely fucking decadent on her taste buds.

Top space was a dangerous place to be if you weren’t careful, and Kathryn was out of control at the moment. She forced herself to access her suppressed senses, to take stock of what her hands were doing, to see past the haze of nothingness to the clarity beyond and make sure she wasn’t pushing Seven too far.

Slowly, her spatial awareness returned and she could feel her hands as they dug into Seven’s thighs, keeping them forced wide. Her vision cleared and she looked up the blonde’s body, cataloguing what she saw.

The most perfect creature she had ever laid eyes on, staring down at her in wonder. That was the general picture. A moment later she was able to pinpoint more specifics. Seven’s heaving chest; flushed cheeks; the dress around her hips; her arms resting comfortably on the floor beside them, her hands no longer tangled in Kathryn’s hair. She put the picture back together and came to the conclusion that Seven was relaxed. The most interesting part of the picture, however, was the tiny hint of a smile on Seven’s face.

Not entirely sure her voice would work, Kathryn tried anyway. “Do you still want to be mine?” Well, it worked, it just sounded like someone had dragged her throat over hot coals.

That tiny hint of a smile turned to a tiny hint of a smirk and Seven nodded. “Irrevocably, Captain.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short but I wanted to get something up since it's been a couple days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened to our lively discussions? >D>D>D I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

Kathryn moved out from between Seven’s legs, petting the bruises on her thighs, and held her arms out, motioning Seven into them. “Come here. Come here, sweet girl.”

Seven slid easily into her arms, curling against her, head resting on her shoulder, and Kathryn automatically started playing with her hair.

“You shouldn’t have had to see me like that, Seven. I’m sorry,” she said, placing a gentle kiss on the blonde’s head.

Seven lifted up a little and literally frowned at her. She had never seen that particular expression on the Borg’s face before.

“What?” she asked, finding herself frowning in response as if it were contagious.

“The experience was exhilarating for me and I do not understand your apology,” Seven answered. “It was quite flattering, Captain.”

“Flattering?” Kathryn’s brows went from furrowed to arched in an instant. “How the hell was it flattering?” She was embarrassed for that loss of control and Seven found it _flattering_?

“Yes, Captain. Your control is wound very tightly. Every action calculated; every word crafted; every instinct weighed and measured. To be the cause of your descent into chaos, however brief, was… staggering. Please do not apologize. The digression was most welcome and would be welcome again.”

To her great discomfort, Kathryn felt herself blushing. “Oh,” was all she managed to say.

“I particularly enjoyed being told my cunt was yours,” Seven continued as if she were discussing a course correction at the helm.

Kathryn choked. “Oh?” She cleared her throat. “It wasn’t too objectifying?”

Seven looked amused. “It was infinitely objectifying, which was the basis of its appeal.”

“I see,” Kathryn said thoughtfully, her embarrassment fading. “You don’t mind my talking to you like that, then?”

The Borg looked like she wanted to give a facetious response, but in the end all she said was, “no, Captain, I do not mind."

“You’re not too sore, are you?” Kathryn had to check.

Seven raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you referring to my cunt or my backside?”

She should have expected the frankness. “Your cunt,” she answered with a smirk.

Seven shifted as if testing her body and then shook her head. “No, Captain. There is a slight ache, but I find it exceptionally pleasant.”

“I see,” Kathryn said again, this time her voice a little more on the low side, her uncertainties lessening with each word from Seven’s mouth.

Seven laid her head on Kathryn’s shoulder again and curled into her. “Am I in trouble, Captain?” she asked quietly.

“Trouble? Whatever for?”

“For breaking rule number three…”

“Rule number three only applies in my bed,” Kathryn assured her. “Or if I’ve asked you not to touch me. You’re not in trouble.”

She shouldn’t have said that because suddenly Seven’s teeth were latched onto her neck and the Borg bit her, hard. She yelled loudly in response and jerked away, the shock of the moment rendering her temporarily speechless and she just stared at Seven, a hand flying to cover the mark.

“What in the hell?” she finally breathed, eyes wide.

“I have wished to do that for two years, fifty-six days, twelve hours and fifteen seconds,” Seven said, slightly winded.

Kathryn couldn’t even begin to work out the specific moment Seven was referring to. She rubbed idly at her tender skin, trying to decide how to respond. She had just finished saying that rule number three only applied in her bed so she couldn’t very well scold Seven for touching her.

“Perhaps your lapse in control contributed to my own,” Seven added when Kathryn didn’t respond. “I wish—I want to touch you, Captain. To make you feel the way you have made me feel. To make you wet and aching for me even if you never admit it.”

“Believe me, Seven, I’m wet and aching,” Kathryn said, exhaling slowly. “That seems constant these days. You affect me on such a deep, primal level that I’d be fucking you every nanosecond of every minute of every day if I didn’t keep such tight control. Please don’t doubt how much I want you.”

“And yet despite your words, I do not sense permission.”

“No,” Kathryn said, shaking her head, fingers feathering over the throbbing point in her neck. “I’m sorry, Seven, I’m not ready. Your touch is too powerful.”

Seven sighed and turned away from her, and Kathryn’s chest constricted.

She moved closer, molding her front against Seven’s back, draping an arm over the Borg to keep her from retreating further. “Please,” she whispered, burying her face in unruly blonde hair. “Be patient with me.”

That seemed to pacify the Borg because Seven’s body relaxed and she felt a nod in response. “Of course, Captain. I am sorry for being impatient. I have never desired something with such urgency and am therefore unable to draw from previous experience on how to behave when denied.”

“The same way you would behave if I denied you any other request,” Kathryn suggested. “Graciously.”

Seven squirmed in her arms until they were facing each other again, an intensity eclipsing the calm blue of her eyes. “Yes, Captain.”

“Very good,” Kathryn said with a quiet nod. “Now I don’t mean to be rude, but the cargo bay floor is not exactly my idea of comfortable. Let’s move this little party, shall we?”

As they got to their feet Kathryn spied the leather belt she’d abandoned yesterday, and seeing it in the middle of the floor made her feel like she’d left a mess in Seven’s room. She walked over and bent to pick it up, heading for the replicator to recycle it when Seven’s voice rang out.

“Captain, wait!”

She paused and turned, belt in hand. “Yes?”

Seven’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes were on the floor. “I wish to keep it. Please.”

Kathryn should have anticipated that given the fact that Seven seemed to like tangible reminders of her punishments. A smirk formed on her lips and she walked back over to the Borg, teasing the belt buckle over Seven’s hip. “Perhaps I can find a place in my quarters to display it.”

Seven’s breathing quickened and her hands flexed, then fisted. “Perhaps you could hang it on the wall, Captain, in case you have need of it in the future.”

“You really liked that, didn’t you?” Kathryn asked, running her fingers along the leather.

Seven’s blush intensified and spread to her throat. “Yes, Captain.”

“I’ve made a decision about the nanoprobes,” Kathryn said suddenly. “Can you alter the length of the suppressant’s effect?”

Seven perked up. “Yes, Captain.”

“I want you to make the doses last twenty hours each. I will inject you at 0600 every morning, which leaves the four-hour window the doctor recommended for your nanoprobes to flourish each day. We are typically asleep at 0200 so you should be able to keep whatever little punishment trophies you want until well after bedtime. This is all on the condition that you report for a scan one day a week at whatever time you and the doctor work out. If he has to come looking for you on the designated day and time instead, the deal’s off. Understood? It will be your responsibility to remember and report to sick bay.”

“Understood, Captain,” Seven said, looking at her with an expression Kathryn couldn’t read.

“What are you thinking right now, sweet girl?” she asked, stepping closer to Seven again and bringing a hand to her cheek. “That expression on your beautiful face is new to me.”

Seven’s blush returned and she pressed her cheek into Kathryn’s hand. “The expression signified conflict, Captain,” she explained softly. “Anticipation of punishment after you permit me to suppress my nanoprobes, but guilt at wanting to be punished because it will mean I have upset you.”

Well if that wasn’t the most fucking adorable thing, Kathryn didn’t know what was. “Oh, Seven,” she said, leaning in for a kiss. “You can always ask for what you want. It doesn’t have to be a punishment.”

Interest swirled in Seven’s intense blue eyes as she stared at Kathryn. “Captain,” she said, her breathing a little heavy, “will you please spank me with the belt at 0600?”

Instant wetness. Kathryn almost groaned and put her hand in her pants. Well, no, she didn’t almost put her hand in her pants, but she did almost groan. “Oh my,” she said, voice low and smoky. “I would be happy to.”

“You would?” Seven asked almost shyly.

“Mm,” Kathryn nodded. “I enjoy spanking you a great deal, little Borg. It makes your captain very pleased.”

Seven’s jaw worked in silence at that and she ended up leaning closer and resting her forehead on Kathryn’s shoulder.

“I’m hungry,” Kathryn spoke up after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “Go put on something blue. Do you want to eat in the mess hall or my quarters?”

Seven looked torn. “Your quarters, please, Captain. I have already been publicly disciplined once today and I do not wish to risk it again until I have had more time to reflect on the experience.”

“Are you trying to say you don’t think you can behave yourself at dinner?” Kathryn asked, eyebrows arching, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes to match the subtle smirk on her lips.

“That is not—” Seven stopped talking as her eyes found Kathryn’s and the Borg huffed softly. “You are teasing me, Captain.”

“Yes, my dear. Now go get changed and meet me in my quarters.”


	18. Chapter 18

Kathryn had just finished setting the table and was on her way to the replicator to grab the roast quail when her doors chimed. “Come in.”

The doors opened and Seven stepped in, and Kathryn turned toward her intending to greet her and instead dropped the dishes in her hands. Seven was in blue lace lingerie and heeled sandals, and nothing else.

Leaving the broken plates and scattered pieces of quail, Kathryn walked slowly but purposefully over to the Borg, then circled her with a low growl. “What is the meaning of this?”

Seven stood taller, hands behind her back. “It is blue, is it not?”

Kathryn’s jaw tried to drop at the audacity but she willed it to behave. Her fluttering stomach was another matter altogether, but that was in no danger of being revealed to her companion so she wasn’t concerned with it at the moment. “You walked the corridors of the ship in a bra and panties?”

“And sandals,” Seven added, holding a serious expression for a moment before allowing a grin to surface. “I initiated a site-to-site transport, Captain. I would not roam the halls undressed without your permission.”

“Without my perm—but you _would_ roam the halls undressed?”

“That was not my intended implication. However, if you instructed me to roam the halls undressed, I would of course comply.”

“Huh. Good to know, I suppose,” Kathryn said, eyeing Seven suspiciously as she finally came to a stop in front of the Borg. “You made me drop our dinner. Crawl over there and clean it up while I replicate another.”

“Yes, Captain.” Seven lowered herself to her hands and knees with exquisite grace and crawled carefully across the carpet.

Kathryn took a minute to just stare at her unbelievable ass as she crawled, then ran a hand over her face and skirted the broken dishes to reach the replicator. “Computer, two plates of roast quail.”

 _Chime_.

She picked up the plates and carried them to the table, taking a seat and watching Seven clean up the mess. “Don’t cut yourself. Be careful with those shards.”

Seven turned to look over her shoulder at Kathryn. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn shook her head, still unable to believe Seven’s cheekiness at showing up in lingerie. _It is blue, is it not_? Indeed. A wicked little thought popped into her head and she returned to the replicator. “Computer, one pair of steel nipple clamps with rubber tips.”

Seven squeaked.

“ _Please restate your request_.”

Fuck. Oh, maybe—“Computer, one pair of steel clothespins, one inch in length, with rubber tips and adjustable torque.”

 _Chime_.

She picked them up with a satisfied grin and returned to her seat.

Seven was just putting the last piece of ruined meat into the waste bin and when she’d finished she crawled to Kathryn and looked up at her with wide Borg eyes. “Captain,” she whined, her gaze flicking to the clamps and back up to Kathryn’s face.

“You come here dressed like that and expect to have a normal dinner?” Kathryn asked, pinning her with an unimpressed stare. “Nice try, Seven. Up. On your knees. Hands behind your back.”

Seven complied but the look on her face remained manipulatively pathetic.

“I take it you know what these are?” Kathryn held up the clothespins.

“I can infer their function, Captain,” Seven said with something close to a pout.

Kathryn sighed and lightly slapped her face. “Not that you aren’t charming, but knock it off.”

Seven’s breath hitched and she blinked once, her face settling into an expression of composure. “I am sorry, Captain,” she said in a clear, serious voice. “I was attempting to be playful. I did not realize you wished me to be serious. I have made the appropriate adjustment to my pattern of thought.”

“Thank you,” Kathryn said more gently. “That’s much better.” She took the clamps and unscrewed them until they would only pinch Seven’s nipples to the point of a mild sting, then pulled one ridiculously sexy bra cup out of the way and attached the first clamp with practiced ease.

Seven’s eyes shot open wider and her breathing labored instantly, but she stayed still and didn’t speak.

Kathryn let out a quiet purr and repeated the action on Seven’s other nipple, again appreciating her Borg’s decorum as Seven gasped but did not move. “Good girl,” she said, giving them each a light tug and reveling in Seven’s answering cry. “Next time I tell you to put something on, refrain from taking such creative license.”

Seven breathed in and out harshly before answering. “Yes, Captain.”

“You… are going to be able to focus on your food, aren’t you? I doubt you’ll want to be bent over like last time… not with the weight of those clamps.”

Seven whimpered and closed her eyes. “I will attempt to focus, Captain.”

“It would be in your best interest,” Kathryn said nonchalantly, picking up a piece of meat and holding it to Seven’s lips.

Clearly surprised, Seven faltered for a split second before parting her lips to accept the morsel. She chewed and swallowed before opening her mouth for another.

Kathryn nearly fell out of her chair when Seven slid her mouth open the second time, waiting to be fed again. A familiar ache started up in her stomach and worked its way down until she had to consciously keep herself from squirming. She plucked another piece of meat from the roast and offered it up.

Seven took it delicately between her teeth, then pulled it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

Kathryn almost forgot to feed herself. She speared a piece of her own quail with a fork and sighed appreciatively at the tenderness and the taste. “Pretty good, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Captain. I find it to be delicious.”

“I find you on your knees in lingerie with nipple clamps to be delicious. How are they feeling?” she asked, nodding toward the gleaming silver.

“Throbbing, Captain,” Seven answered simply, opening her mouth again when Kathryn offered another piece of meat.

“Unbearably so?” Kathryn asked, taking another bite of her own.

Seven swallowed before answering. “No, Captain. However, I find I cannot imagine anything I would consider unbearable to endure for you.”

“There you go being sweet and charming again,” Kathryn chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her, tongue swiping through the Borg’s open mouth before she pulled back with a contented sigh.

Seven just licked her lips and waited for Kathryn to feed her.

The rest of dinner was quiet and peaceful, and when they were both finished Kathryn carefully adjusted the screws on the clamps to let them pinch a little tighter. She ignored Seven’s pained hiss and leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs at the knee. “I’d like you to wash the dishes, Seven.”

“Yes, Captain,” Seven replied, eyelids fluttering. “May I stand?”

“You may.”

She watched Seven rise and collect the plates and forks, one of them unused, and carry them to the sink. There was no reason to wash dishes when they had a replicator to recycle them, so this was a purely selfish indulgence. She had done it a few times herself when she wanted the relaxation of a repetitive manual task that required little focus, so there was a sponge and dish soap as well as a towel for drying.

Seven seemed well suited to the task and Kathryn even caught her humming softly as she worked. It was a very domestic picture and one Kathryn thoroughly enjoyed.

Every so often the blonde glanced at her nipples and shifted uncomfortably, but Kathryn didn’t have the heart to tease her. She rose from her chair and wandered over instead, standing behind the Borg and resting her hands on Seven’s waist; her chin on Seven’s shoulder. “I could get used to this,” she murmured.

“As could I, Captain,” Seven whispered back, not straying from her task.

“You’ve been good about these,” Kathryn praised, sliding her hands upward to remove the clamps and set them on the counter. Her palms quickly covered Seven’s breasts and pressed hard, knowing there would be a rush of sensation as blood flow returned to her nipples.

Seven gasped, her hands faltering for a second before studiously returning to the plate she was almost through washing. “Oh,” she breathed, and a moment after that a soft whimper reached Kathryn’s ears.

“It’s okay,” Kathryn purred, kissing the back of Seven’s right earlobe. “I’ve got you.”

Seven trembled in her arms but finished the dishes, laying them all out on the towel to dry. “Will that be sufficient?” she asked, leaning her head back to look up at Kathryn. “Or should I use the towel to dry them instead?”

“That will be sufficient,” Kathryn said, affection swelling up in her chest. “As much as I’d like to stand here like this all night, I believe you have some suppressants to reconfigure.”

Seven’s eyes lit up as Kathryn stared into them. “Yes, Captain.”

“Neelix is having some kind of get together in the mess hall so report there when you’re done.”

“Yes, Captain. Please state the purpose of this ‘get together’.”

“I’m not entirely certain. I believe it’s something to do with Bajorans and dessert.”

“Are there enough Bajorans on Voyager to provide adequate sustenance in that regard?”

Kathryn sputtered out a laugh and kissed Seven’s cheek, then patted her bottom and released her. “Wear something red.”

***

When she entered the mess hall she was unprepared for the stares directed her way. Tom Paris outright laughed and Chakotay coughed into his fist, turning away from her. B’Elanna hid behind Tom and Neelix chuckled as he disappeared into the back. “What?” she demanded.

Tuvok’s brows furrowed. “I believe the bridge officers are reacting rather immaturely to that… mark on your neck, Captain.”

Kathryn gasped, hand flying to the bite on her neck as her cheeks flamed hot. She’d forgotten. Seven would pay for that somehow. It was too late to retreat so she did her best to play it off. “Klingon mating ritual,” she said, all eyes still on her. “I moved and she missed.”

The room erupted into much more appropriate laughter at that and the situation was de-escalated.

Seven joined her shortly thereafter and she spent the evening with the Borg in her lap, one arm snaked around her lover. Her forearm laid across Seven’s belly and her hand gripped the dark red dress where it covered Seven’s left hip.

“How many glasses of that Riesling did you have?” she asked on the way to her quarters when Seven stumbled.

“None,” Seven slurred a little. “I stumbled so you would catch me.”

“Little liar,” Kathryn laughed.

“One glass, Captain. But perhaps I shouldn’t have indulged.”

“Why not? You’re entitled to be tipsy once in awhile. You’re not on duty and I didn’t ask you not to drink.”

Seven nodded, leaning on her for support.

When they were in her bedroom the Borg undressed with particularly inefficient flair and was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

***

Kathryn had a hard time falling asleep until she finally acknowledged that she was nervous about injecting Seven with the nanoprobe suppressant. She had originally declined to be the one to do it, but after getting the doctor’s approval contingent upon that four-hour baseline, she had decided the act should be hers. It was a symbolic way to cement her control over Seven, and she knew Seven craved that. They both did. But, she was nervous, as much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself.

She lay there staring at Seven’s sleeping form, falling further for the blonde with each breath either of them took. Then suddenly her alarm was blaring, so she must have finally fallen asleep.

She shut off the alarm with a groan, draping an arm over her eyes as Seven stirred.

“May I snuggle you, Captain?” the Borg mumbled sleepily.

“Absolutely,” Kathryn granted permission, smiling when Seven settled against her. “Mm. Good morning, sweet girl.”

“Good morning,” Seven purred.

“I need to shower in a minute,” Kathryn said regretfully. “Then we can handle the injection, and did you still want that spanking?”

Seven groaned softly and pressed closer. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn let out a little snicker and nodded. “All right. Let me up, little Borg.”

Another groan, this one of regret, but Seven obediently withdrew to let Kathryn out of bed.

Twenty minutes later she was clean and dressed and she sat on the edge of the bed to let Seven put her pips on her collar. “Make sure they’re lined up,” she said, forgetting for a moment who she was talking to. “Never mind. I’m sure you’ve aligned them with impeccable distinction.”

Seven looked at her sheepishly as she finished attaching the last pip. “I have, Captain.”

“No doubt. Do you want to put your dress back on for me to flip up or would you prefer to remain naked?” Kathryn went to her bureau and picked up one of the hyposprays Seven had deposited there before joining her in the mess hall the previous night. When she spun on her heel to walk back to the bed she caught Seven staring at what would have been her ass if she hadn’t turned around. She tossed a smirk in Seven’s direction and shook her head, crossing the distance and sitting again on the edge of the bed.

“Does one option hold more appeal to you than the other, Captain?”

Kathryn had to think about that one. The thought of Seven staying naked was quite stimulating, but there was also something about flipping up skirts that she’d always enjoyed. “I’m not sure. I think I’d like your dress on. I do so love to pull up a woman’s skirt…”

“How many women’s skirts are you pulling up on average these days?” Seven asked, ocular implant quirking.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that sounds like jealousy,” Kathryn teased, stroking Seven’s neck where she was about to inject her. “But in the interest of full disclosure… just one. Tilt your head.”

Seven flushed a little but Kathryn could easily read the relief in her expression. She tilted her head at the directive and Kathryn applied the hypospray, that familiar hiss permeating the air as she did so.

“Put on your dress and bend over the bed. Brace yourself on your hands.” She stood and tossed the empty canister into the replicator, then picked up the belt from the lounger where she’d dropped it last night. When she had time she’d put up a nail or two in the wall to hang it from.

Seven retrieved her dress and slipped into it, giving Kathryn a heated look over her shoulder as she leaned forward over the bed and held herself up with straight arms.

“If your arms give out, don’t worry, just rest on your elbows, but I’d like you to try to stay just how you are.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn could hear the shudder in her voice and it caused a brief tightening in her stomach before she focused with a calming breath and stepped forward, using one fingertip to inch Seven’s dress up her thighs and over her bottom, draping the hem across her back. Some day she would do things to Seven’s ass besides spank it, but that was a thought for later. Right now she appreciated the smooth, pale skin and anticipated the red stripes that would soon be marring that perfection.

She stroked Seven’s thighs and leaned over to kiss along the Borg’s lower spine. “If you need me to stop… ask.”

“I will not ask you to stop,” Seven said.

“Oh but you must promise me that you’ll ask me to stop if it becomes too much. This is not a punishment, Seven. If you refuse to acknowledge the possibility that you may need to ask, then I won’t spank you at all.”

Properly cowed, Seven dropped her head down so her hair brushed the sheets. “You have my word, Captain. If it becomes too much I will ask you to stop. I am sorry.”

“Don’t think I won’t know if it’s too much and you don’t ask,” Kathryn warned before folding the belt in half and straightening up, resting it on Seven’s backside. “If that happens, I can promise you that you will not like the result.” The last was said in her displeased captain voice, and Seven’s answering shiver let her know her message was received even more than the blonde’s verbal response.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Very good. I’ll begin.” She drew the belt back and snapped it forward, the sound hitting her ears just after the leather cracked across Seven’s bottom. “Count.”

“One, Captain,” Seven said without hesitation or movement.

Kathryn watched a faint red mark form and then swung again, overlaying the first stroke almost perfectly.

This time Seven’s breath caught and her count took a fraction longer. “Two, Captain.”

The red mark darkened and Kathryn bit her lip, staring for a moment before quickly shaking off the reverie and refocusing on the task. The belt bit into Seven’s pale flesh again, three times in a row, and she luxuriated in the blonde’s brief loss of composure.

Seven gasped and bent her knees, holding the position for a few seconds before straightening her legs again and reciting the count breathlessly. “Three, four, five, Captain.”

“Enjoying yourself?”

The next reply came even more breathless. She didn’t think Seven had expected her to ask that. “Yes, Captain.”

“Good. Try to arch away from the swats like that again and I’ll stop.”

She wasn’t surprised by the little cry of protest. “No, Captain, I’m sorry. It will not happen again.”

“It makes no difference to me. You asked for this spanking so you should have been prepared to behave.” She knew that the mild scolding would enhance Seven’s enjoyment even if the Borg was only aware of it on a subconscious level.

Seven squeezed her thighs together and hung her head lower. “I will behave.”

“Mhmm,” Kathryn said archly, snapping the belt across the tops of Seven’s thighs.

Seven yelped quietly but stayed in position and Kathryn couldn’t help grinning. “Six, Captain,” came the shaky count, almost as an afterthought.

“Good girl,” Kathryn hummed at her, whacking the belt into her thighs again, mouth watering at the amount of redness covering Seven’s soft skin.

“Seven, Captain,” the Borg recited, her throat sounding dry.

She landed three in a row again just to test Seven’s resolve and because she was feeling rather mischievous, but Seven didn’t get out of position again. Kathryn could see her fingers curling into the sheets and hear the fabric under her left hand ripping, but Seven impressed her and stayed put.

“Eight, nine, ten, Captain,” the blonde said with a whimper.

 _Chime_. “Kim to Captain Janeway. Is everything all right?”

She tapped her badge. “I’ll be there shortly. Everything’s fine. Janeway out.”

Seven stiffened noticeably.

“I should have decided on 0500,” Kathryn mused, stopping to rub her hand over Seven’s back through her dress. “It’s irresponsible of me to be spanking you when we should both be at our posts…” She hadn’t done it on purpose, but she realized this would be a good test of Seven’s self-control. “We’ll have to continue this tonight.”

She watched emotions play out in the arch and flex of Seven’s shoulders; her back; the way she rolled both and how long it took her to speak. Her voice could have cut glass. “Yes, Captain.”

At least she didn’t say something disrespectful. Kathryn could work with that. “I’m sorry, Seven… we’ll make the injections at 0500 from now on in case there’s anything we’d like to do before starting our shifts.”

Seven’s muscles relaxed marginally at that and her voice softened. “Yes, Captain.”

She leaned over and kissed Seven’s bare shoulder, then set the belt back on the lounger. “Attend your responsibilities here and then report to me on the bridge,” she said over her shoulder on her way out the doors. “After you change clothes, of course.”

“Yes, Captain.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angsty D:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in question is Through Glass by Stone Sour. I watched the official music video as well as several covers, and I chose the one I did because I thought it was the most passionate and most reflected Seven's state of mind. It's by a band called Tracktor Bowling and the lead singer, imo, is heartfelt as well as technically talented.
> 
> If you choose to watch the video I recommend right clicking the link and choosing to open it in a new tab, otherwise it navigates you away from Ao3 in the middle of reading.

Kathryn could tell Seven was still irritable as the blonde sank to her knees beside the captain’s chair and placed her hands on her thighs. It wasn’t so much the expression on her face, because that was skillfully neutral… it was more the quality of her movements. Something Kathryn couldn’t put words to if her life depended on it, but she just knew. She settled a hand in Seven’s hair and hoped for the best.

Alas, life was not to be easy that day.

 _Chime_. “Doctor to Seven of Nine.”

Seven tapped her combadge. “What?” she snapped.

 _Chime_. “You’re due for your cortical node maintenance.”

“If you were half a doctor you could fix it so I wouldn’t need maintenance,” Seven snarled.

Kathryn opened her mouth to respond but the doctor beat her to it, quite skillfully she might add.

 _Chime_. “Testy, are we? How’s your bottom, Seven? Need some cream for the captain’s handprints?”

All eyes turned to Seven and Tom made an indignant noise, his gaze going to Kathryn. “The _doctor_ got to see her get spanked before any of us did?”

Kathryn pressed her lips together tightly to avoid showing her amusement, not quite sure how she was going to respond to that, but she didn’t have time to consider it before Seven addressed him.

“The captain probably didn’t want to see your ineffectual erection,” the blonde tossed at him rudely.

Kathryn and Tom both blinked at her, and Kathryn didn’t need any time at all to decide how to respond to _that_. She grabbed Seven by the arm and yanked the Borg across her lap, laying about a dozen swats to the seat of her biosuit before even pausing to take a breath.

Seven yelped and tried to get up but a hand wound tightly in her hair put a stop to that.

“Take a good look, Mr. Paris,” Kathryn said in a low voice, keeping Seven across her lap.

“Yes Ma’am,” Tom said with a nod.

She looked down at Seven. “If you were still in a dress your ass would be bare right now, so consider your biosuit immeasurably fortuitous, young lady.” She applied a dozen more swats, just hard enough to be felt. This wasn’t about making her backside hurt, it was about embarrassing the hell out of her. She found Seven’s behavior absolutely unacceptable; borderline too much. “How’s that, Mr. Paris? Enough?”

“Yes Ma’am.” She could tell by the look on his face that he was torn between feeling bad for pissing Seven off and getting her in trouble… and enjoying the result.

She knew Seven was crying, but at this very moment that was not her main concern. She forced Seven back to her knees with her hand still fisted tightly in blonde hair. “Apologize to Mr. Paris.”

Seven didn’t. She forcibly turned away and buried her face in Kathryn’s lap. The Borg had never used her superior strength in that way before. Not against Kathryn. Enough was enough.

She stood and jerked Seven to her feet by the arm, marching her toward the turbolift. Chakotay was on an away mission so she glanced at Tuvok as she dragged Seven into the lift. “Mr. Tuvok, you have the bridge.”

The doors whooshed shut. “Deck four.”

“Captain—”

“Shut up.”

Seven stayed quiet and Kathryn could hear her sniffles and heavy breathing, refusing to look at the blonde.

When they reached Deck Four she dragged Seven to cargo bay two and gave her a hard shove inside. “Stay there until I come to retrieve you,” she barked, letting the doors close behind her as she walked back to the turbolift. Even with Seven’s outlandish behavior she still hated confining her to quarters. She hated being away from the Borg. It was as much a punishment for her as it was for Seven.

She collected herself before returning to the bridge and taking her seat, smoothing out her uniform jacket unnecessarily.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Tom stated a minute later. “I’m sorry.”

“Be that as it may, she knows better than to behave like she did. You are not to blame. And you _will_ be getting an apology.”

He just sort of slowly swirled back around in his seat to face the viewscreen.

***

Kathryn had no appetite for lunch so she skipped it, choosing to stay on the bridge and conduct scans of a nearby nebula. Tom and Ensign Ward were in the mess hall so that left her and Tuvok alone.

“Are you all right, Captain?”

She turned around to look at him, offering a soft smile. “I’m fine. Thank you, Mr. Tuvok.”

“The amount which you care for each other must make it difficult to be apart,” he said insightfully.

“Truer words were never spoken,” Kathryn agreed with a sigh.

He looked like he was debating his next words but ultimately went ahead. “I hope her behavior continues to improve so you will not be forced to separate her from your side.”

“Tuvok,” she said with a hint of a gasp. “Thank you.” She knew he didn’t like to see her unhappy, but that was extremely thoughtful coming from the Vulcan.

“You are welcome.”

***

Kathryn knew she wouldn’t eat dinner either if she didn’t fix things with Seven first, so when her duty shift ended she took a steadying breath and made her way to cargo bay two.

Seven was curled up on the ‘X’ in the middle of the floor, sound asleep, the painting Kathryn had given her clutched in one hand and a PADD in the other. It was all Kathryn could do not to just forget anything had even happened.

She composed herself and spoke. “Seven.”

The blonde stirred and quickly got up onto her knees, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She set both items down and put her hands behind her back.

Kathryn picked up the painting and hung it back up on the wall where it belonged, then looked at the PADD. “What is that?”

Seven glanced at it and back up to Kathryn’s face. Her voice was dry and scratchy. “I still have difficulty expressing some emotions, Captain,” she whispered. “I have located something in Earth archives that has assisted me.”

“Is it for me to look at or is it just a tool for you?”

“It is for you to look at, Captain.”

Kathryn nodded and picked it up, activating the datastream. It was a video… of a band in a club or a bar, performing a song. [Through Glass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqQj_BNXNv8)

From the first word out of the singer’s mouth, Kathryn felt like she couldn’t breathe. There was nowhere to sit so she lowered herself to the floor, eyes and ears glued to the performance and the lyrics.

_I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_Oh, God, it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_  
_'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_All I know is that it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_

_How do you feel? That is the question_  
_But I forget you don't expect an easy answer_  
_When something like a soul becomes initialized and folded up_  
_Like paper dolls and little notes, you can't expect a bit of hope_  
_So while you're outside looking in, describing what you see_  
_Remember what you're staring at is me_

_'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_All I know is that it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_

_How much is real? So much to question_  
_An epidemic of the mannequins, contaminating everything_  
_We thought came from the heart, but never did right from the start_  
_Just listen to the noises, null and void instead of voices_  
_Before you tell yourself, it's just a different scene_  
_Remember it's just different from what you've seen_

_I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_And all I know is that it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_  
_'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_And all I know is that it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_

_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That shine for you_  
_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That lie to you, yeah-ah_  
_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That shine for you_  
_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That lie to you, yeah-ah_

_I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_Oh, God, it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_  
_'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass_  
_Don't know how much time has passed_  
_All I know is that it feels like forever, but no one ever tells you_  
_That forever feels like home, sitting all alone inside your head_

_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That shine for you_  
_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That lie to you, yeah-ah_  
_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That shine for you_  
_And it's the stars, the stars_  
_That lie to you, yeah-ah_

_Who are the stars_  
_Who are the stars_  
_They lie_

Kathryn had tears streaming down her face by the end of the first verse but she did nothing to stop them, she just let them flow, letting the words and emotion in the singer’s voice penetrate her defenses as she related this performance to feelings Seven struggled to express.

As it came to a close she carefully set down the PADD and looked at the beautiful creature on her knees. She could tell Seven wanted to crawl to her; she could almost see the twitch of muscles in hands that ached to reach for the floor and carry her to her mate.

She didn’t bother wiping her eyes as the tears were still spilling, and her voice was uncharacteristically shaky when she finally spoke. “Is that how you—is that how you feel when I confine you here?” She could barely get a sentence out.

Seven nodded, her words coming out a whisper. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn was still for a moment, trying to rein herself in, but it was useless. She choked out a sob and moved to Seven, pulling the blonde into her lap and squeezing her fiercely. “I don’t like it either,” she confessed, burying her face in Seven’s hair. “But I can’t punish you when I’m angry. It has to be this way if you push me too far,” she tried to explain.

Seven curled her knees to her chest and laid her head on Kathryn’s shoulder, her arms around her shins. “I’m sorry, Captain,” she trembled.

“I’m afraid you’re going to be sorrier shortly,” Kathryn said as her tears started to slow. “I’m going to whip you, Seven, and then you are going to accompany me to the bridge and apologize to Mr. Paris.”

Seven made a strangled noise but Kathryn felt her nod. “Yes, Captain.”

She would tell Seven of Tom’s apology only after the Borg had made her own.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a much harsher punishment than previously depicted in this story, so if you're just here for the J7 and you're not sure you're that comfortable with D/s you might want to skip this chap.

“All right, Seven. Get completely undressed and stand facing your alcove. Grip either side of it to hold yourself steady.”

Seven obviously didn’t want to leave her lap but the blonde didn’t argue. “Yes, Captain.” She got to her feet and began to undress.

Kathryn set the PADD on Seven’s work console and made her way to the replicator. If the computer didn’t know what a singletail was then she was going to have her own little fit. “Computer, one four-foot black leather singletailed whip with a braided handle.”

 _Chime_.

Thank God. She picked it up and ran her fingers along it, sparing a brief moment to recall the way it felt the first time one of these sliced into her back. She closed her eyes, relishing the memory, drawing to the surface every detail she might have need of as she took a whip to Seven.

By the time she turned around, Seven was naked, hair hanging loose, facing her alcove with one hand on each side of it. At least it was sturdy enough that she could squeeze as hard as she needed to and her left hand wouldn’t break it. That’s why Kathryn chose it.

She stepped up to the Borg and laid a hand on her back, speaking softly. “You may bleed a little. Do you find this acceptable?”

Seven’s muscles flexed under her palm. “Yes, Captain.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, Captain.”

She listened for any hesitation in Seven’s voice but there was none. “This is a punishment so I expect you to take as much as you can, but if it reaches the point you feel damaged or unable to proceed, you will use a safe word. Choose it now, please.”

Seven’s head dropped forward and Kathryn heard her exhale. “ _Satis_ ,” she said quietly.

Kathryn drew on her Latin and squinted as she tried to remember. She thought that meant ‘enough’. “Very good. Do not let go of the alcove. If you are going to fall, ask permission to kneel, but it should go without saying that I expect every attempt to remain standing.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“And as always, you may cry, but do not complain.”

Seven nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn nodded too, the gesture meant for herself since Seven couldn’t see her. She wrapped her hand around the braided end of the whip, the texture offering an easy and secure grip. A smooth handle would allow for slipping if she started to sweat, and that would be unacceptable. “I am going to begin.”

She took a slow breath in; slow breath out, and flicked the tail of the whip lightly across Seven’s right shoulder. It had been awhile since she’d done this and she wanted to make sure her aim was still accurate before she escalated to sharper blows.

Seven sucked in a hissing breath and Kathryn watched the muscles in her forearms jump as she squeezed hard with both hands. As predicted, the alcove easily withstood the force.

She delivered a matching kiss on the Borg’s left shoulder, and as she hit her mark she was satisfied that her overhand aim hadn’t suffered from the years it had lain dormant.

She tested her backhand across Seven’s left flank and her forehand across the other, ending up satisfied with those as well. The last test was her underhand and she swished the tail in an upward arc, catching Seven’s bottom once on each side.

Seven stayed quiet and Kathryn intended to bring that to an end.

She geared up and lashed Seven’s shoulders, one after the other in an ‘X’ shape, the tail cutting harder, leaving immediate welts.

“Ah!” Seven hissed again as she had on the very first stroke, her hands tightening on the alcove as she rolled her shoulders.

 _Very good_ , Kathryn thought, giving her a moment to adjust before she eased into a rhythm with her overhand, criss-crossing Seven’s back with angry red marks and listening to the blonde’s quiet groans of pain. She intended this to be a lesson not soon forgotten.

She switched angles and moved down to cover Seven’s gorgeous ass with raised welts, finally getting a squirm.

Seven’s hips arched away from the blows but she quickly righted herself, muscles straining as she held herself up, sweat glistening on her pale skin.

Kathryn hadn’t even worked up to heavy breathing yet. Seven was in for a long ride. She slowed herself down, returning to softer strokes, almost caresses, up and down the blonde’s quivering sides. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, and besides that, such a tender area couldn’t take the harsher blows.

Seven shivered and threw her head back, her hair almost tangling in the whip.

“Hold your head up,” Kathryn told her, keeping her voice neutral. She wasn’t going to be gentle but she didn’t need to be sharp. Seven was behaving well, and needing a reminder to keep her head up was not a grave transgression. Or really a transgression at all during her very first whipping.

Seven corrected her position immediately, straightening up. “Yes, Captain.” Her voice was raspy, but, Kathryn noted, not thick with tears. Not yet.

She didn’t give a verbal acknowledgment to the correction, she simply ran a finger down one prominent welt on the blonde’s right shoulder before stepping back and unfurling the whip with determined focus, slicing right through the inflamed red flesh.

Seven cried out, arching her back, and Kathryn gave her a moment. She hadn’t cut deep; she _wouldn’t_ cut deep, but she knew Seven felt the split.

“Easy,” she said, her voice slightly more reassuring now that she’d ventured into the harsher phase of the punishment. Checks and balances. She cut the whip across the Borg’s other shoulder, watching a tiny river of blood rush to the surface and break through. Barely enough to be visible and not enough to drip.

Seven’s breaths came faster now, more shallow, and she finally shook with tears. Good. That was good.

Kathryn stepped up to her and swept her hair to the side, a few strands tinted lightly with red from contact with the mild wounds. It was time to start talking now. “You disrespected me in front of the bridge crew.” She moved back and circled the whip before flicking her wrist to catch the underside of Seven’s bottom, again barely breaking the skin. “It’s embarrassing. It reflects poorly on me and my authority, Seven.” She lashed the other cheek and Seven’s cries escalated.

“I’m sorry, Captain!” she said desperately.

“Don’t speak,” Kathryn said firmly. “Just listen.”

Seven was shaking as she continued to accept the punishment, the pain clearly indicated by the noises she made, but she didn’t complain.

“I don’t want it to happen again. We’ll need to figure out a way for you to communicate in moments like that.” She started up a rhythm again, criss cross, criss cross, until Seven’s back was a mess of painful cuts and the blonde was sobbing.

Not the sobs of fear or loneliness or difficulty facing her humanity, but sobs of regret, of hurt, of the physical and emotional ache ravaging her body and mind. Kathryn knew what they were because they mirrored her own, once upon a time.

One last lash swiped across the lower part of Seven’s bottom where it met her thighs, the skin splitting a bit more than the rest, and Kathryn set the whip aside as Seven’s howls filled the cargo bay.

“You did it,” she said, her voice soft but an unmistakable note of pride shining through. “And you stayed standing. I’m proud of you, Seven.” She stroked her hand over the back of Seven’s neck. Her Borg was sweating quite a bit now, but she knew that was to be expected with the level of pain she had put the blonde through. “You may kneel now,” she added as she noticed how violently Seven’s legs were trembling.

As soon as the permissive statement left her lips Seven let go of the alcove and collapsed.

Kathryn’s hands shot out to catch her under the arms, avoiding her back, and she carefully lowered the sobbing woman to her knees.

As soon as Kathryn touched her, Seven lost it. “Please, Captain!” she yelled through her tears as she hit her knees. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I was so terrible and disrespectful and I never meant to embarrass you!”

“It’s okay,” Kathryn soothed, though she didn’t demand that Seven stop talking. She wanted to hear what Seven was thinking in this fragile moment. “I’m right here. Talk to me, sweet girl.”

“I was angry at being interrupted and the doctor embarrassed me and then Ensign Paris said—said—said what he said and I—I—I—I—he—his words felt demeaning and I—”

Seven was beside herself and Kathryn’s heart was breaking. “I’ve got you, honey. Keep talking.” She would have suggested that the Borg calm down first but she felt the raw honesty that poured out in situations like this was important, and would most likely be enlightening as well.

“I felt he was questioning the significance of our relationship and I did not want you to begin questioning it as well!” Seven finally sobbed out the real truth behind her reaction to Tom’s stupid comment. “I am in love with you, Captain, and I could not bear the thought of this meaning less to you than it does to me!”

Kathryn gasped, a hand flying to cover her open mouth, and she just stared at Seven in shock for a good few seconds before she grabbed her by the hair and kissed her. Sometimes a kiss could take the place of words but in this case it was meant to give her a few moments to collect her jaw from the floor and speak without making a fool of herself.

Seven just cried, though she returned the kiss.

Vision a little blurry though she wouldn’t admit it if questioned, Kathryn finally pulled back from the kiss but kept a tight hold on Seven’s sweaty, blood-streaked hair. “Oh, Seven,” she said, her voice a little too choked for her liking. “This means more to me than anything. More than captaining a ship, more than Starfleet regulations, more than _any_ thing. No one could make me question that, honey, no one.” She kissed Seven’s forehead fiercely, then rested her own against it. “I—” She cleared her throat. “I—” She stopped and tried again. “I love you, Seven. I have for a long time.”

Seven’s legs lost their remaining strength and she sat back on her heels, giving a startled shriek and shooting back up to her knees, leaning forward on Kathryn for support. “I can’t—” she said, her voice breaking even as her tears started to slow. “I can’t hold myself up and it hurts so much…”

“Go on your hands and knees for a second and I’ll be right back,” Kathryn told her. “I’m just going to the replicator.”

Seven had started to protest but nodded at the reassurance and leaned forward onto her hands and knees.

Kathryn quickly replicated a soft, thick, fluffy blanket and returned to the blonde’s side, spreading it out. “On your tummy,” she instructed, and Seven complied with a groan. “Better?”

“Yes, Captain, thank you.” She had stopped crying but her sniffles were heart wrenching.

Kathryn sat and pulled Seven’s head into her lap, stroking her hair. “We need to figure out a way for you to tell me when you feel like that,” she said after several long minutes of companionable silence.

“I do not believe I was aware of the depth of my feelings at the time, Captain,” Seven said quietly.

“I guess that’s the trick, isn’t it?” Kathryn asked with a sigh. “I trust you don’t want another whipping, though, so we’ll need to at least have a plan to avoid disrespect.”

Seven nodded and pressed a kiss to her knee through her uniform trousers. “Yes, Captain. I mean no, I would not wish for another whipping. It is so very painful,” she whispered. “Second only to my assimilation.”

“Are you trying to make your captain feel guilty?” Kathryn teased, running her thumb lightly over Seven’s ocular implant.

Seven’s eyes widened and found hers, the blonde giving a quick shake of her head. “Absolutely not, Captain, I deserved every lash,” she said breathlessly.

“You don’t wish I’d taken it easier on you?” Kathryn had to ask, trying to play it off as more teasing.

“Of course not, Captain. You were teaching me a lesson.”

“And did you learn it?”

Seven finally cracked a smile, tiny though it may have been. “I fucking hope so.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically a pile of MUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH but I feel justified since the last one was so heavy.

“Seven!” Kathryn laughed lightly, shaking her head.

Seven blushed and pressed her face into Kathryn’s thigh.

They sat like that for awhile, Kathryn running her fingers through Seven’s (amazingly still silky) hair and Seven hiding her face, arms wrapped around Kathryn’s calf, still laying mostly on her stomach but a little bit on her side.

“I wish I did not need nanoprobes,” Seven finally whispered.

“I love your Borg aspects just like I love your human ones,” Kathryn whispered back. “You wouldn’t be who you are without both.”

“Thank you, Captain, I just…” she trailed off and Kathryn nodded, giving her hair a gentle squeeze.

“I know, my dear,” she acknowledged. “You want your whipping to be with you when you wake up tomorrow.”

“Yes, Captain,” Seven admitted.

“If you can get the doctor’s approval, without threatening him, becoming aggressive or posturing in any way, I’ll allow you to give yourself another injection at 0200 just this time.”

Seven’s surprised little ‘oh’ in response was endearing.

“This is a chance for you to start communicating better with the rest of the crew,” Kathryn continued. “Tell him how you feel and why it’s important to you. Be honest with him. And if he says no, if he says it’s too dangerous, you will accept that graciously.”

“What if I cannot?”

Kathryn arched an eyebrow. “Then I recycle the rest of your hyposprays. You decide if it’s worth the risk.” She stared at Seven for a minute and then gave her an encouraging smile. “But Seven, I know you can control yourself.”

“Will you speak to the doctor with me?”

Kathryn opened her mouth to say yes but realized she didn’t want Seven using her as a crutch like that. “I will go with you to sick bay but I won’t participate in the conversation.”

Seven seemed hesitant but finally nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

“All right, I think it’s time for me to put some salve on these welts,” Kathryn transitioned the conversation, lightly tracing one of the milder wounds with one fingertip. It still made Seven shiver and Kathryn grin.

She went to the replicator and gave specifications for an antibacterial ointment, then returned to Seven’s side and uncapped the jar.

“This should be soothing and guard against infection,” she said as she dipped her finger into the greasy substance.

She spent the better part of the next half hour carefully painting Seven’s welts, stopping to kiss her shoulders or the back of her head when the blonde’s whimpers flared up. She made sure to coat every single spot she had touched with the whip, and Seven was breathing hard by the time she finished.

“Are you all right, sweet girl?”

“Yes, Captain, merely overwhelmed. Thank you for being so gentle with me. I do not--”

“I know you’re about to tell me you don’t think you deserve for me to be so gentle, but you do, Seven. Your punishment’s over, your behavior is forgiven and you deserve every ounce of gentleness I possess. Understood?”

Seven looked up at her and Kathryn believed she understood. “Yes, Captain.”

“When you’ve regained your strength we will find Mr. Paris in the mess hall, I believe, or on holodeck two. I know earlier I said you would accompany me to the bridge, but obviously alpha shift is over and Mr. Paris will not be on the bridge.”

She held her breath waiting for Seven’s reaction to the news and relaxed when all the Borg did was nod and answer in the affirmative. “Yes, Captain.”

“Good girl,” she couldn’t help gushing a little. She had intended to wait until after Seven’s apology to inform her of Tom’s, but given the depth of the insecurities her lover had expressed about the comment, she decided to tell her now. “Tom apologized, by the way. He admitted he shouldn’t have said what he said and he apologized. I don’t think he was trying to be hurtful…”

“Ensign Paris apologized?” Seven asked, the surprise evident in her quiet voice. “Of his own free will?”

“Of his own free will,” Kathryn confirmed. “And I’m sure he’ll repeat the apology directly to you.”

“If he was not attempting to diminish the significance of our relationship, what was he trying to accomplish with his comment?”

“I can’t be certain, of course, but I think it was just a reaction to being left out of something. He probably didn’t think past a little jealousy.”

“Jealousy, Captain?” Seven asked, eyebrows arching almost comically. “I will never understand humanity.”

“I think it’s just men in general, Seven, not humanity specifically. Women have a hard time understanding men.”

“You do not seem to have this difficulty, Captain.”

“I’ve had a bit more experience, but even I am only making an educated guess. I can’t know for sure what was going through his ridiculous head.”

“So my… misinterpretation of his intent was not due to the deficit of having been Borg?”

“I don’t believe so, Seven, no,” Kathryn offered.

She could see the way Seven’s face lit up at that even if the Borg didn’t outright smile, and her heart melted for the second time that day. Or was it the third? Fourth, perhaps?

The blonde pushed up onto her hands and knees, then slowly got to her feet to test her strength. “I am ready to apologize to Mr. Paris,” she announced, heading for the doors.

“Seven!” Kathryn let out a shriek. “No. No, no, not like—” She waved her hand toward Seven’s lack of clothing. “No. No one but me is going to see you naked, my dear. Jesus Christ.”

Seven glanced down at herself and turned bright red. “I was unaware that I—I believe my mind was intensely focused on other things.”

“Or maybe you just want to show off your marks, hmm?” Kathryn chuckled.

“I would not be opposed,” Seven said, her blush crawling down her neck.

“I’ll get you a dress that covers what I want and leaves your back bare. Agreeable?”

“Agreeable, Captain.”

Her chest feeling lighter than it had all day, Kathryn replicated a red knee-length dress with halter straps that tied behind her neck, leaving Seven’s back open to the air and the eyes of the crew. She made the skirt flowy to minimize the irritation to the blonde’s backside.

Getting it onto her was less than simple, but she managed to help Seven into the dress with minimal fussing and whimpering.

“How in the hell is your hair still so soft and silky when it’s spattered with sweat and blood?” she asked as she tied the straps lightly behind the blonde’s neck.

“Physics of some sort,” Seven answered absently, her attention on the material of the dress, hands sliding up and down her hips and belly.

Kathryn grinned at the distracted answer and replicated a hairbrush. “Come here.”

Seven stopped playing with her dress and approached her, turning away and getting to her knees.

Kathryn ran the brush tenderly through the tousled locks until they were once again perfect despite the random streaks of discoloration. She set the brush aside and kissed the top of Seven’s head. “I believe, Madame, that you are ready.”

Seven rose to stand in front of her, laying her hands on Kathryn’s waist, her touch light and hesitant. “I would like to kiss you,” she said, though it was clearly a request and not just a statement of intent.

Kathryn shivered and put her hands over top of Seven’s, squeezing. “Proceed.”

A hint of a smile reached all the way to Seven’s eyes as she leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Kathryn’s, flicking her tongue out across Kathryn’s bottom lip.

“Oh,” Kathryn let out a shaky moan, her hands gripping Seven’s tighter when she felt the blonde’s tongue. “Jesus Christ, Seven…” And she quickly took over the kiss lest things get out of hand, pushing her tongue into Seven’s mouth, claiming and reclaiming her with gentle determination.

Seven melted under the assault, eyes closing, and Kathryn pulled back a moment later, flushed.

“Come on then, let’s go.”

She wasn’t sure what the mischievous look on Seven’s face was for until they reached the doors and the blonde smirked at her. “Captain, you should have brushed your own hair as well.” And she darted out the doors, letting them whoosh shut in Kathryn’s face as she stood there with her jaw dropped.

“You little fucking brat,” Kathryn said incredulously to the empty space in front of her, a smirk tugging at her lips as she engaged the doors to go chasing her Borg.

She didn’t have to, it turned out, because Seven hadn’t gone anywhere, just got to her knees in the corridor, and Kathryn burst out laughing.

“Get up,” she said, shaking her head, sliding her arm into Seven’s when the blonde complied.

Seven beamed at her as they walked. “My tone was teasing but my words were sincere, Captain. Your hair is… _disheveled_.”

“Is it?” Kathryn asked, casually flipping her free hand through it. “Oh well. I worked hard, you know, making all that art on your body.”

Seven’s cheeks dusted pink and she stopped bringing it up.

***

They found Tom in the mess hall with B’Elanna, Tuvok, and Ensign Ward. When Tom saw them he stood up and left the table to approach them. “Seven—” he started, but Seven cut him off.

“Allow me to proceed first,” she said. “Please.”

Kathryn heard gasps and murmurs from behind them and she knew it was because people had seen Seven’s back. She turned to shoot a look over her shoulder and the noise quieted.

Tom nodded at Seven’s request.

Seven started to go to her knees but Kathryn held her up. “No, Seven. Apologize as his friend, not so formal.”

Seven nodded and remained standing, looking from Kathryn to Tom. “I am sorry for my inappropriate comment, Ensign Paris, and I have been properly punished. I was… feeling… particularly sensitive at the moment you chose to express yourself and have been informed that I most likely misinterpreted your statement.”

“Well… what did you think I meant by it?”

Seven tensed, clearly not having expected to elaborate, and Kathryn gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. The blonde took a breath and continued. “I… thought you were attempting to diminish the significance of my relationship with the captain, which caused me to fear that she may have begun to do so as well.”

Seven was looking at the floor now and Kathryn squeezed her arm again, so proud of her Borg.

Tom looked genuinely shocked. “No, I would never,” he said, shaking his head.

Seven still stared at the floor. “Then what did you mean by it?” her voice was quiet and unsure, and Kathryn knew this was scary and uncharted territory for her, talking like this.

“I didn’t mean anything by it other than what I said,” Tom tried to explain. “I didn’t think before I said it, that’s for sure, and I’m sorry I got you in trouble. I was just… uh… well, I guess jealous? Like the doctor seeing you get a spanking before me or B’Elanna or Neelix or Tuvok was… not unfair, but… like we weren’t as important to you as he was? That sounds really stupid.”

“It does not,” Seven said quietly, her eyes never leaving the floor. “And I got myself into trouble, Ensign Paris.”

Kathryn could hear tears in Seven’s voice though she doubted Tom would pick up on it. She was a little shocked herself at his confession. “Tom… your feelings were hurt?” she asked, trying not to raise her eyebrows.

His eyes widened and for a split second she thought he was going to deny it, to cut and run, but he surprised her again. “I guess they were. Wow. I am a complete pussy.”

Seven was trembling and Kathryn was about to check in with her when the Borg spoke again. “B’Elanna is my… best friend. Neelix is kind and generous with his time, always there when I did not know I needed anything. Lieutenant Commander Tuvok saved my life at great risk to his own sanity. You… I remember my first weeks on Voyager, Ensign Paris. You were one of the few people on board this ship that never judged me for who I had been before and treated me as an equal without even asking me to prove myself. The doctor is my trusted advisor, my mentor in all things I could not bring myself to learn from Captain Janeway. All of you are vital to my success as an individual. If you wish to see me get a spanking, a proper, formal one, I will humbly comply as soon as I have healed from my whipping, if it pleases the captain.”

Kathryn was almost crying herself by the end of that impromptu speech and she couldn’t imagine being more proud of this incredible woman. Seven never ceased to amaze her.

“What?” Tom gasped, his eyes wide. He sounded a little choked up too if Kathryn did say so herself.

Seven took a few slow, even breaths in and out through her nose, then gingerly turned around to show him her back. She remained facing away for a few seconds and then faced front again.

“No,” he breathed, reaching a hand out but quickly realizing that was a poor choice and dropping it back to his side. “Seven,” he said, clearly baffled, and then turned questioning eyes on Kathryn. “Captain?”

This wasn’t like Harry’s flippant questioning that first time Seven knelt at her feet in the mess hall, this was genuine concern. So Kathryn answered. “This was a punishment negotiated between the two of us,” she told him. “Seven retained the right to end it at any time with a single word.”

He looked back to Seven. “But why, Seven? What you said to me wasn’t so terrible that you should get whipped like that.”

Seven turned and pressed herself against Kathryn’s side, arms going tightly around her, face buried in the crook of her neck.

“Give her some time,” she told Tom, a hand going to the back of Seven’s head to soothe her. “Talking about her feelings is incredibly difficult and she’s shared much with you already.”

Tom nodded. “I’m not—just so you know, I’m not trying to sound judgmental or disapproving, I’m just… intrigued, I guess. Please don’t think I’m being a bastard. Again.”

Seven nodded but didn’t withdraw from the protection she sought in Kathryn.

“Thank you, Mr. Paris,” Kathryn nodded back to him. “I think we will take our leave.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment, start a convo! All opinions welcome unless you're a total jagoff. =D

Kathryn let Seven cling to her side as they left the mess hall. “Are you up for the conversation with the doctor, honey, or do you want to just go to bed?” she asked as they walked.

“It is difficult to give voice to the things inside me, Captain, but my small measure of success with Ensign Paris was encouraging… despite my shutting down at the end.”

“Everyone shuts down sometimes, lovely,” Kathryn assured her.

“Except you, Captain. You always do what needs to be done regardless of your personal feelings.”

Kathryn stopped walking and almost burst into laughter. “My God, Seven, I’ve been shutting down every time you try to touch me.”

Seven uncurled from her side and straightened, staring at her. After several seconds of silence she managed one word. “What?”

“You don’t see it as shutting down?” Kathryn asked.

“I had not considered that, no,” Seven said, eyes lit with curiosity.

“Hm,” Kathryn said noncommittally, linking their arms as she started walking again. “I’m doing it again right now, changing the subject. Are we going to my quarters or to sick bay?”

She was unprepared for the smirk Seven threw at her but the blonde allowed the subject switch without comment. “Sick bay,” she decided.

Kathryn nodded as they stepped into the turbolift. “Deck Five.”

***

“Ah, Captain, Seven. Are you here to force our resident Borg to submit to the cortical node maintenance she tries so hard to avoid?”

“Very funny, Doctor. Seven has something she’d like to discuss with you. I’m just window dressing,” Kathryn replied wryly, backing over to one of the far biobeds and taking a seat.

“I see,” the doctor said, turning his attention fully to Seven.

The Borg shifted restlessly for a moment and then straightened, standing at attention. “May I please have your medical approval to skip one recovery period for my nanoprobes? It would be a total of forty consecutive hours of suppression, but I would be willing to wait a full eight hours upon its conclusion before suppressing them again. Before you answer, please permit me to explain.”

The doctor had opened his mouth to respond but nodded instead, waiting for her to continue.

 _So far, so good_ , Kathryn thought, unaware she was nervously chewing her bottom lip.

“I—” Seven started, then took a brief pause to collect herself and tried again. “I received a whipping this evening for my unacceptable behavior on the bridge this morning. I would like to wake up with the painful reminder of my transgression. I know this does not make sense to anyone but myself and I am at a loss… I do not know how to communicate its importance to me. It goes beyond pain, Doctor. It is not that I simply wish to hurt. It is much deeper than that, but I do not know how to make you understand. I—I—”

The Doctor smiled gently at her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Seven, for trusting me enough to share what feelings you are able to communicate. It is a great step in reclaiming your humanity, and I do believe I have some small understanding of why your wounds mean so much to you, though I would be at a loss to explain it with words myself. If this is a one-time thing, you have my medical approval for two consecutive twenty-hour doses of nanoprobe suppressant.”

Kathryn watched in amazement as Seven’s face lit up and for the briefest of moments she thought Seven was going to literally hug the doctor.

“Thank you, Doctor,” the blonde said instead, and Kathryn loved the lightness in her voice. Today had been hard. She was glad the doctor felt that honoring the Borg’s request was safe enough. It would have made the day so much harder if he’d refused.

“Now… cortical node maintenance?” the doctor asked pointedly.

Kathryn turned her head and muffled her laughter in her shoulder.

Seven had started toward her, but at the doctor’s request she stopped and turned back to him with a weary sigh that Kathryn expected was mostly for show. “Proceed.”

***

Kathryn slipped off her shoes and socks, then her trousers and uniform jacket before joining Seven in bed. Seven had already shed her dress and was lying naked on her stomach with her head resting on folded arms.

“Do you have any idea what a masterpiece you look?” Kathryn asked, finding it hard to breathe as her eyes swept Seven’s natural beauty and the added appeal of the raised welts covering her skin.

“You did refer to my welts as ‘art’, but I was not aware of masterpiece status, no,” Seven said easily, a lazy grin on her lips.

Kathryn enjoyed the casual atmosphere and lay on her side, propped up on one elbow. “There’s no question of masterpiece status,” she said, leaning over to place the gentlest of kisses on one of the bruising welts.

Seven shivered and moaned softly but kept up the playful banter. “Yes, the artist is quite skilled.”

Kathryn gave a little growl and moved her mouth to the unpunished skin of Seven’s shoulder so she could bite. “You’re mistaken. The canvas is the masterpiece; the artist only added to its perfection.”

Seven quirked her ocular implant. “I am rarely mistaken, Captain.”

Kathryn grinned at her. “Well this is one of those times.”

Seven huffed at her and turned her head the other way, making Kathryn laugh.

And then a split second later the room was charged with such an electric energy she didn’t know which way was up. When she realized the energy was coming from her, from her pent-up arousal of the past few weeks combined with the fresh hell of looking at Seven so beautifully marked, she sat up and pulled off her shirt, then slid out of her bra and panties and issued a halting directive. “I want you to watch me touch myself.”

Seven nearly shot off the bed in her haste to turn her head. “ _Fuck_.” Her eyes went wide when she saw Kathryn naked and she started to push up on her hands.

Kathryn wasn’t sure she would get used to that word from the blonde… but she liked it. “Don’t—don’t move,” she said, shaking her head, her hands already trembling.

Seven gave a subtle nod and lowered herself back down.

Kathryn was grateful that the blonde didn’t push. She could see Seven’s back rising and falling with heavy breaths and feel the Borg’s glassy eyes raking over every inch of her body. She had rarely felt so on display, at least not since being on Voyager, but it was time to start trying to knock down some walls. Seven deserved that and Kathryn ached for it.

“You are so fucking beautiful, Captain,” Seven exhaled, her hands curling into fists around her pillowcase.

Kathryn was vaguely aware that she’d probably have to replace that pillowcase after Seven tore it to shreds. “Seven,” she said, blushing. She scooted back against the headboard and hesitantly rested her hands on her thighs, parting them a little.

Seven whined and tore the pillowcase as predicted, pressing her face into the pillow and letting out a long, loud groan before turning back to stare at Kathryn. “I want my tongue _buried_ in your _cunt_ ,” she said with an edge to her voice that Kathryn hadn’t previously heard.

She sucked in a hissing breath at the same time a cry forced its way out, her nails digging into her thighs without her permission until her fingers slipped and she looked down to see blood. She loosened her grip and wiped her fingers on the sheets, then shoved her right hand between her thighs before she lost her nerve.

Seven alternated between staring at Kathryn’s hand and groaning into her pillow with equal frequency.

“Calm down if you want to watch,” Kathryn demanded, needing Seven to settle before she lost control herself.

Seven struggled, her face disappearing into her pillow for several long moments, but finally her muscles relaxed and when Kathryn could see her eyes again the intensity was still there, it was just mercifully muted.

“Good girl,” she praised, drawing comfort from the familiar, allowing her fingers to tease through her folds and pull a soft noise from her throat.

“Jesus fuck,” Seven hissed quietly, and Kathryn knew it wasn’t the time for introspection but she noticed the Borg’s language was much less formal when she was being consumed with want.

Seven’s language kicked her arousal up a notch and she spread her thighs further, angling her hips so the blonde would have a better view as she finally slid a finger into herself. Her muscles sucked greedily at it, having been too long denied. She had masturbated over the years on Voyager but she didn’t typically penetrate herself. Goddamn, she was wet. It was almost embarrassing and she quickly added a second finger.

“Fuck,” Seven cursed. “Fuck… fuck… _fuck_.”

“Oh God,” Kathryn moaned. “Stop it.” Seven’s gaze was so piercing she swore she could feel it as a physical caress. A ghost of a touch that lit her nerve endings on fire.

She could see Seven’s left hand, the one closest to her, clenching into a fist; flexing and relaxing; clenching again. The dim lights glinting off the metal made Kathryn shudder. She would have to let Seven touch her soon. She couldn’t hold out forever no matter how afraid she was of losing her shit. At least she had taken this step, allowing Seven to see her naked and watch her touch herself. But she knew that wasn’t really enough… for either of them.

Seven’s loud, harsh breathing pulled her focus back to the moment and she moved her fingers, curling and stretching and lightly thrusting, sweat starting to bead across her forehead and throat. When she couldn’t take any more she started rubbing her clit, the quickest and easiest way for her to get off, and within moments she was coming, thighs clamped down as her body shook with release.

She gave herself a minute to calm down before she withdrew her hand and stretched out on her side, propped up again on one elbow. At she took in the Borg’s face – parted lips, blown pupils, flushed cheeks – she couldn’t stop herself and reached out, pressing her wet fingers into Seven’s open mouth.

Seven moaned like a whore and closed her mouth immediately, sucking on Kathryn’s fingers without having to be told.

Having Seven of Nine’s tongue eagerly cleaning her come from her fingers just might have been the single most erotic thing Kathryn had ever experienced. “Thank you, honey,” she said, her voice thick with the hazy afterglow of an orgasm.

Seven didn’t want to let go and sucked harder on her fingers when she tried to pull them away, sending a shudder rocking through her that almost got her going again. When she pulled a second time Seven opened her mouth, releasing, and thank God for that because the urge to force them further in and make the blonde gag on them was growing by the second.

“The taste,” Seven whispered, a look of wonder on her face. “I do not know how to qualify it. I believe I require a larger sample… in the interest of science, you understand.”

The tension drained out of her shoulders and Kathryn slumped to the bed, laughing. “Brat,” she muttered, pulling the blankets up over herself and reaching for Seven’s hand, holding it in hers. “Thank you for being… mostly good,” she said with a grin, stealing a quick kiss before settling down with her head on her pillow.

“Thank you for letting me watch, Captain. It was most exhilarating. I do not believe I will have any trouble sleeping despite the lingering pain of my whipping.”

Kathryn glanced at the clock. “It’s almost 0200, Seven. Are you sure you don’t want to let your nanoprobes soothe the pain? You have behaved in an exemplary manner tonight and I could not be more proud of you.”

Seven hid her head under her pillow and Kathryn raised an eyebrow. That was usually a petulant response but somehow she sensed that this time it was more about uncertainty. She took Seven’s hand again and the blonde slowly emerged, hair completely ransacked by the pillow’s movements against it. She presented a uniquely endearing picture. “I am uncertain.”

Kathryn nodded. “I guessed as much. You were quite certain a little while ago. What new information is causing your uncertainty?”

“The sudden unwelcome thought that I may be unable to adequately perform my duties tomorrow, Captain. I would not be able to enter any Jeffries tubes or do any climbing. If an away mission were to arise that I were assigned to I would not be able to sit at the Delta Flyer’s tactical station. I am aggrieved at being forced to choose between my personal needs and those of the ship. I do not understand how you are able to remain such a pleasant person, constantly faced as you are with this type of decision.”

“Oh,” Kathryn said, eyebrows shooting up. “I wasn’t aware I was viewed as a particularly pleasant person. Thank you, Seven,” she said with a surprised little laugh.

“Of course you are viewed as a pleasant person, Captain. You are inspiring to everyone on board this ship. Have you failed to notice the clamor for any scrap of your attention or approval?”

Kathryn was grateful for the dim lighting to hide the flush to her cheeks. “I… suppose I never really considered it,” she realized, though now that Seven mentioned it she could recall a few pieces of supporting evidence. “Hm.”

“I am aware that if it were you in my position you would choose your obligation to this ship without a second thought. I do not wish to be less devoted.”

“What if I gave you the day off to recover?”

Seven looked, in a word, horrified. “Special treatment, Captain? Please do not make that nightmare a reality.”

“Nightmare!” she couldn’t help shouting incredulously, jaw dropped, though the shout was quite obviously saturated with amusement.

“Yes, Captain. The last time I regenerated I experienced a most unpleasant nightmare in which you consistently offered me special treatment due to the nature of our relationship and the entire crew turned against you and mutinied.”

“Oh my God,” Kathryn stated, a low, rumbling laugh starting in her chest and working its way out, hanging in the air around them. “You are extremely precious, Seven of Nine. All right. No day off. But you could stand at tactical if an away mission came up and you could send Icheb into any Jeffries tubes. You could use site-to-site transports to avoid any climbing.” When she stopped rambling and refocused on Seven’s face, the blonde’s expression had gone from horror to understated shock.

“Loopholes,” Seven said. “A starship captain is providing me with loopholes. Is there someone to punish you when you misbehave, Captain?”

“No one on this ship,” Kathryn replied archly.

“How unfortunate,” Seven teased.

“Insolent little thing,” Kathryn smirked. “Go get your hypospray. Captain’s orders.”

“But I have not made my decision…”

“I’ve just made it for you. I can’t have you conflicted, my dear. _That_ would be the real danger to ably performing your duties.”

Seven stared at her for a minute and then the tension drained from her body. “You are spoiling me, Captain. Thank you. May I kiss you?”

“Mm,” Kathryn gave permission, tapping her cheek. “It’s 0159 so make it quick. You can kiss me again afterward.”

Seven pressed her lips to Kathryn’s cheek, lingering for only a second before she carefully climbed off the bed with a groan and retrieved a hypospray from the bureau. Her movements spoke of practiced ease as she injected herself, then she discarded the canister and returned to the bed, lying on her stomach, head turned toward Kathryn. “Do I still have permission to kiss you again, Captain?”

“You do, but thank you for asking,” Kathryn purred, shifting closer so Seven could reach her without moving too much.

As the Borg’s mouth closed over hers she let out a quiet noise of appreciation, for once letting Seven dictate the pace. And it seemed Seven wanted slow and lazy, which suited her just fine. She opened her mouth, allowing Seven’s tongue inside and gently stroked it with her own.

Kathryn could not imagine anyone or anything tasting better than Seven of Nine. Any part of her. Her mouth, her skin, her sweat… and the blonde’s cunt outshined them all. She’d have to taste that again soon. Tomorrow night, perhaps. They could finally visit the beach she’d been unsuccessfully trying to get them to for the past… however many days.

“Good night, Captain,” Seven whispered when she pulled back from the kiss.

“Good night, sweet girl,” Kathryn whispered back. “If you hurt too much and can’t sleep, wake me up.”

Seven hesitated before agreeing, and Kathryn could sense that the blonde did not want to have to wake her up. “Understood.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet Kathryn's ex-domme and Seven is insatiably curious.

Kathryn woke to her alarm, and after shutting it off with a groan, she turned to wake Seven. But Seven was already awake, head under her pillow.

“I do not wish to get up.”

Kathryn’s eyes twinkled as she tried not to laugh. It was too early to laugh. “Oh? And why is that?”

“I wish to remain naked in your bed all day long, Captain. Preferably with your knees flanking my head but I do not have to be so particular.”

“Oh my God,” Kathryn almost whined, reaching over to slap Seven’s closest thigh. “Get—go stand in the corner,” she groaned.

“Yes, Captain,” Seven grumbled, getting up to obey. She shuffled to the nearest one and put her nose in it, folding her hands behind her head.

Kathryn ran her hands over her face and went to take a quick shower, then got into her uniform and sat on the edge of the bed. “Come here.” She moved her legs apart so Seven could kneel between them.

Seven lowered her hands and turned, walking elegantly to Kathryn, and knelt at attention in the indicated spot.

Kathryn ran her hands through the Borg’s silky hair and leaned down to kiss her. “Go get ready for work, naughty girl,” she whispered.

Seven’s eyelids fluttered and she nodded, slowly getting to her feet. “Yes, Captain.”

***

The day passed in a whirlwind of dodging Vidiians and outrunning an ion storm, and just when Kathryn was about to relax and get to spend a minute with Seven for the first time since they’d left each other that morning, Voyager received a distress call.

She wasn’t looking at the screen when they answered because Chakotay had just returned from his away mission and was stepping onto the bridge, but the voice that filtered through the signal set her blood to cold and her eyes snapped forward.

“Hello Voyager, this is Eligius F—” the woman stopped and stared at Kathryn, an amused and surprised expression on her face. “Kitten?”

Oh, Jesus. Her pulse was pounding in her ears, her heart thudding against her rib cage, her breathing erratic and she couldn’t form words.

“That’s _Captain_ Janeway,” Tuvok spoke up. He was the only one that knew who this woman was and what she meant to Kathryn once upon a time.

Diyoza’s gaze shifted to Tuvok. “Tuvie!” she said with a smirk. “How the hell are you?”

Tom turned around, mouthing ‘Tuvie?’ at no one in particular while Kathryn tried not to faint.

“That’s Lieutenant Commander Tuvok,” Tuvok corrected her, a Vulcan brow lifting. “And I am well. How may we assist you, Colonel?”

Tom and Chakotay were floundering, clearly unable to believe that Kathryn and Tuvok knew this person.

Diyoza’s gaze swiveled back to her. “Nothing to say, Kitten?”

Kathryn finally bristled, shaking herself out of it and standing up, smoothing down her jacket. “Give me five minutes, then beam aboard, Colonel. Security will escort you to my ready room.” And without waiting for a response, she forced herself to walk, not run, off the bridge.

When she was alone in the ready room she sank into her chair and took a shuddering breath, unable to believe this was happening. It’s not like she still had feelings for Diyoza, not in that way, but their history was steeped in ritual and the sense memory was hard to shake. She would do nothing to jeopardize her relationship with Seven; what she had with Diyoza was in the distant past, but she still did not find the intrusion welcome and wondered how Seven would react. She tapped her badge and summoned her lover. She didn’t want Seven hearing about this from anyone but her. “Seven of Nine to my ready room.”

 _Chime_. “On my way, Captain.”

As soon as Seven was through the doors Kathryn was on her feet, crossing the room, kissing the Borg soundly.

Seven’s hands came up to rest lightly on her arms as the blonde returned the kiss, then gave her a questioning look. “Captain?”

She got straight to the point. There wasn’t time for anything subtle. “Remember last night you asked who punishes me when I misbehave?”

Seven blinked, head tilting. “Yes.”

Kathryn’s face heated up but she forged ahead unflinchingly. “There used to be a woman. It’s been over for a long time, but we just received a distress call from a ship, and she’s on it.”

Seven nodded, dropping her hands to her sides. “You will be spending your time with her while she is on board?”

“What? No,” Kathryn said, blinking. “No, Seven, that’s the opposite of why I called you here. I called you here to tell you what’s happening and remind you that you’re mine and I want no one else.”

Now Seven stared at her in disbelief.

“I love you,” Kathryn reminded the Borg, her hands going to Seven’s face, thumbs brushing back and forth across her cheeks. “Seeing someone from my past doesn’t change that and it certainly doesn’t change who I am now or what I want.”

“Are you under the impression that I am insecure? I would not begrudge you the opportunity to—”

“Are you listening?” Kathryn interrupted. “She’s about to be escorted in here and it’s going to be incredibly difficult and awkward for me, but I want you by my side regardless. As long as you promise not to lose respect for me…”

“That is unlikely, Captain,” Seven said with a hint of a grin. “In fact I believe it will be an enlightening experience. Perhaps I may be able to entice her to share a few stories…”

Kathryn’s jaw dropped, her cheeks burning. “Seven of Nine, you will do no such thing. I forbid you to ask for stories.”

“I… will not comply, Captain,” Seven said, eyes alight with mischief.

Kathryn supposed she should have been relieved at Seven’s reaction to the news. This conversation could have gone so, so poorly. “As soon as those nanoprobes kick in tonight, your ass is toast,” she promised, but she was only half serious.

“Perhaps I may even be able to get her to—”

“Stop while you’re only at a spanking,” Kathryn smirked.

“I wish to see _you_ get a spanking, Captain,” Seven purred.

“Well Jesus, aren’t you bold when you know I can’t touch you for another ten hours or so?” But she couldn’t deny the thrill that ran through her at Seven’s words and obvious acceptance of the situation. She had been so worried that the Borg would be upset. “If her being here makes you uncomfortable, an away team can assist her from her own ship, I’m sure,” Kathryn switched gears to say seriously. “All you have to do is say the word. All right?”

“Thank you, Captain,” Seven said, falling serious as well. “I do not believe I will experience any problems but you have my assurances that I will communicate to you if one arises.”

“Thank you, sweet girl,” Kathryn said, stealing another kiss before the ready room doors chimed to signal their guest’s arrival. She walked over to her desk and sat on the edge of it. “Come stand next to me,” she said, waving Seven over when the Borg just stood in the middle of the room. Once Seven was next to her she called out, “come in.”

The doors opened and Colonel Charmaine Diyoza stepped into the ready room like she owned it, taking an appraising glance around, eyes cataloguing every facet of the décor, and, Kathryn knew, taking tactical stock of her surroundings. The colonel was never one to be at a tactical disadvantage. Finally her eyes settled on Seven, one eyebrow quirking, then fixed on Kathryn, making her stomach drop. “Kitten,” she said, taking a step closer.

No, she would not allow herself to be referred to by that pet name anymore, not on her ship. “I believe Lieutenant Commander Tuvok has already instructed you in the use of my proper title,” she said, forcing a casual smirk to cover the nerves twisting through her body.

Diyoza studied her for a second too long and she knew she wasn’t fooling the colonel, but to her relief, her words were taken at face value. “All right, I’ll play. _Captain Janeway_.” She stretched out the words in an almost obscene manner. Her eyes shifted back to Seven. “Why in the hell do you have a Borg on board?”

Never one to be at a tactical disadvantage and never one to mince words, either. “This is Seven of Nine, a valued member of my crew and a treasured part of my personal life. Not that it’s any of your concern, Colonel. Now, why are you here? What’s wrong with your ship?”

“You’d have to ask my pilot. He said stop so I stopped. I think I heard something about plasma.”

“I thought you used hydrazine exclusively…”

“A little hard to come by these days.”

“I forgot you never bothered to learn how to fly your own ship,” Kathryn said with a smirk.

Diyoza stepped closer again and Kathryn fought the urge to shrink back under that penetrating gaze. “I trust my people. I don’t need to know everything. Sometimes a level playing field yields more satisfactory results than a dictatorship.”

Kathryn swallowed hard, glad her hands were on the desk so Diyoza wouldn’t see her sweating. “Says the terrorist.”

Diyoza grinned. “They say terrorist, I say… I don’t really fucking care, actually. Watch your mouth, Kitten. Excuse me. _Captain Janeway_.”

“Sorr—” She started to apologize but stopped herself. This was getting out of hand. She could feel Seven’s curiosity and that only made it worse. “All right, Colonel. Since I should clearly be speaking to your pilot to make arrangements, send him in instead.”

“That’s a little rude, Captain,” Seven leaned over to whisper in her ear and she could _hear_ the smirk in the Borg’s voice.

Kathryn turned her head to whisper right back. “You’re welcome to think it as rude as you like while you spend the next ten minutes in the corner.”

Seven bit her lip and fluttered her eyelashes playfully. “Yes, Captain,” she said at a normal volume, then turned and—what type of walk was that, exactly? A glide?—glided to the corner.

“Woah,” Diyoza said, taking a few steps after Seven, pointing at the mess on the Borg’s back. “You do that?” she asked, eyeing Kathryn with an expression bordering on impressed, which, Kathryn was proud to note, came few and far between. “Nice work, Kat.”

Her hand went to pinch the bridge of her nose. “It’s better than Kitten, but I still prefer Captain.”

“Being a colonel, I still outrank you,” Diyoza said, wagging her eyebrows.

“Our militaries are incomparable,” Kathryn drolled. “Not to mention you were decommissioned how many years ago by all the official channels?”

“Who’s counting?” Diyoza asked, and when she failed to get a rise out of Kathryn she chuckled and headed for the doors. “I’ll send in the pilot. He’ll have a better idea of whether Eligius is inhabitable while we wait.”

As soon as the doors whooshed shut behind her Kathryn groaned and flopped backward on her desk. “Fuckkkkkkkk.”

***

It turned out their fuel line had a leak that posed an explosion hazard, so while that was being scrubbed dry and repaired, Kathryn was assigning out guest quarters to a few hundred… well… they were all human but they behaved more like Klingon warriors. Most of them, at any rate. She basically had several hundred Klingon warriors on her ship. Thank you, Colonel.

Seven was regenerating since she hadn’t been doing so on a regular basis, and Kathryn was in her quarters about to read a book with a nice glass of wine when her doors chimed. Her pulse immediately jumped into her throat and she swallowed down her instinctual reaction. “Come in.”

Diyoza stepped through the doors and did her customary review of the place, taking particular note of the belt hanging on the wall, at which she gave a snicker. “Nice,” she said as she came back to the anteroom from the bedroom.

Kathryn tried to smile. “Seven thinks so.” Predators can smell fear, Kathryn. Don’t take the bait.

“Ah yes, the Borg,” Diyoza said, steepling her fingers together and walking to take a seat on the lounger next to Kathryn. “Tell me about her. How did you come to… acquire her; is that the right term?”

“It isn’t,” Kathryn bristled. “You’re simply fishing to see if my buttons still work. I’ll save you the trouble. If you say one negative or condescending word about her I will throw you off this ship along with your entire passenger manifest and we’ll be at warp nine before you can fucking blink.” If there was one subject that gave her the nerve to talk back to someone who had broken her of the habit with bars of soap in her mouth, it was Seven. She could almost taste the bitter, acrid substance even after all this time.

To her utter shock, Diyoza apologized. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Old habits,” she said with a shrug of one shoulder. “If you would have talked to me like that—”

Kathryn held up a hand, swallowing hard. “I remember. Believe me, standing in front of the sink with Irish Spring clamped between my teeth and not being able to spit it out has left quite the impression.”

“I probably would have brushed your teeth with it this time,” Diyoza said quietly, “and then painted a pretty picture on your back to match your girlfriend’s.” She paused a moment then and her brows furrowed into an amused frown. “Wait. You remember the fucking _brand_?”

Kathryn’s cheeks heated and she cleared her throat. “Mm-hmm.”

“All right. Answer me one question.”

“I just did.” She noticed the twitch of Diyoza’s hand at her side and exhaled sharply. “Sorry,” she couldn’t help breathing out.

Diyoza tapped her fingers on her cargo pants in an attempt – Kathryn assumed – not to slap her. “Really, though, one question. Does she lick your pussy as good as you used to lick mine?”

Kathryn’s jaw dropped despite the fact that she should have known a question like that was coming, and her heated cheeks started to outright burn. “I’m—I don’t—that’s not—I don’t know.”

“You don’t _know_? How can you not know? It’s either good as fuck or it isn’t.”

“I haven’t let her,” she mumbled under her breath, wondering why she felt the need to answer at all.

Seldom had she seen Diyoza shocked, but the colonel’s eyes widened and she stared at Kathryn in utter bewilderment. “You _what_ , Miss Janeway?”

Kathryn felt her palms go clammy and she practically jumped up from the lounger and paced a few feet away. Diyoza had called her Miss Janeway exactly twice during their years together. Once during an argument that preceded her first whipping and once before she’d been shoved to her hands and knees in front of her Academy roommate and fucked in the ass with Diyoza’s strap-on. She shifted uncomfortably at the memories, arching her back subtly and rolling her muscles, clenching her thighs tight together. “I’m afraid to lose control,” she finally admitted in a quiet voice, staring at the carpet. “What if she loses respect for me if I can’t maintain exactly the parameters I’ve set for her?”

Diyoza actually looked compassionate at her confession. “Sit down, Kitt—Kathryn,” she said, patting the vacated space beside her, then waited for Kathryn to comply before she went on. “Did you ever lose respect for me when I screamed your name and put my fist through the wall, or begged you to make me come, or burst into tears when my orgasm was so powerful I couldn’t do anything but cry?”

Kathryn was taken aback by the sincerity and stared at her hands, which were messing with the hem of her uniform jacket. She stilled them when she realized what she was doing, folding them in her lap instead. “No, never,” she said softly. She hadn’t thought about that, she’d only thought about her fears. Feeling physical pleasure wasn’t worth risking what she so desperately wanted to maintain with Seven. Well, that’s what she told herself. The truth was she was just scared to lose Seven’s interest.

“And how would you have taken it if I’d never let you touch me?” Diyoza raised a scolding but surprisingly gentle eyebrow.

All of the air left Kathryn’s lungs in a rush and she was glad she was sitting down. She put her head in her hands and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “Charmaine,” she said plaintively, something she had only ever been permitted to call the colonel when they were at high-class social functions together.

“Go get your lady,” Diyoza directed her. “Time to knock that pedestal out from under you, Kitten.”

Kathryn shot up off the lounger again, her pulse rushing in her ears. “What are you going to do?” she found herself asking, much to her dismay, instead of growling or doing something equally as intimidating. But years of training could not be easily denied, and she knew Seven was curious.

Diyoza just waved her hands at the door. “Shoo.”

Kathryn frowned but made a quick exit, leaning against the wall outside her quarters and trying to breathe. She decided she would leave it up to Seven. Seven was the wronged party, after all, having been held at arms’ length when it came to sexual intimacy. If Seven truly wanted to see her submit to the colonel, she would do it, for her lover. _Her girlfriend_ , she thought with a fleeting smile.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... this took fucking forever. SRY.

Looking at Seven, regenerating so peacefully, so gorgeous, so perfect, Kathryn completely lost her nerve. She was halfway to the doors when she heard the familiar “ _regeneration cycle complete_ ”. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Was it 2200 hours already?

“Captain?”

She turned slowly, a sheepish expression on her face, and cleared her throat. “Hello…”

Seven blinked, stepping down from her alcove and approaching Kathryn. “Hello…”

“I’m afraid you caught me in an unfavorable position.”

“I was beginning to sense that, Captain,” Seven said, halfway between amused and concerned. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes,” Kathryn said, closing the rest of the distance between them and laying her hands on Seven’s elbows. She paused for a moment to watch the Borg shift and flex as her nanoprobes reactivated and started healing her welts.

“Are you certain?” Seven asked, pressing even closer and laying her forehead on Kathryn’s shoulder.

“Yes, sweet girl,” Kathryn whispered, one hand going from an elbow to the back of Seven’s head, pulling out her hair pins and tossing them aside. “I came to talk to you about something and my nerves got the better of me.” It felt strange admitting that. Or maybe it just felt strange that it had happened at all. She wasn’t used to losing her nerve.

She felt Seven’s arms go around her, the Borg’s hands crossing over her lower back, and really there was nothing she wouldn’t do for this woman.

“Colonel Diyoza came by my quarters to have a chat…” She waited to see if Seven would tense up or withdraw, but the blonde simply made a noise for her to continue. “She was rather upset when she learned I’ve been denying you certain things…” She already felt her cheeks warming.

“Certain things,” Seven repeated, and that was definitely amusement in her voice, the concern all but vanished. “The only thing you deny me, Captain, is your body.”

A shiver snaked up her spine and she closed her fist around a bunch of blonde hair to ground herself. “Right. That’s the one that upset her.”

“That upsets me too, Captain,” Seven said, but Kathryn could hear the teasing quality to the words so she didn’t have a complete meltdown. “I presume your next words will be to inform me that she has proposed a proper recourse?”

“Of sorts,” Kathryn said hesitantly.

“Does it mean I will see you get a spanking, Captain?”

“Seven!” she barked, fighting the blush tooth and nail as she tugged firmly on Seven’s hair but kept the blonde’s head on her shoulder, not quite able to look her in the eye just yet. It was all so… sudden. “I blame you for this, I’ll have you know,” she said reprovingly. “Last night you ask me if there’s anyone who punishes me and today she shows up in Voyager’s immediate vicinity? What deities have you been praying to behind my back?”

To her surprise, Seven shook softly with laughter, arms tightening around her. “None, Captain. I have not yet decided on a faith. I think coincidence is to blame, not your little Borg.”

“My little Borg. Are you trying to be charming?”

“Must I really try, Captain? Do you not find me charming at all times?”

It was Kathryn’s turn to laugh and she realized Seven was trying to put her at ease, and she loved her all the more for it. “I would do anything for you, Seven. Do you want this?” She just decided to bite the bullet.

Seven sucked in a breath through her nose and let it out slowly. “Will it make you ashamed to be that way in front of me, Captain?”

“Ashamed? No,” Kathryn said honestly, recalling the conversation they once had regarding the difference between shame and embarrassment. “Embarrassed? Absolutely.”

“I cannot deny my interest,” Seven said quietly. “Unless you wish me to deceive you to save you from embarrassment?”

Kathryn snorted out a laugh and kissed the back of Seven’s head. “No. Never. I always want your honesty.”

“Then I will continue to always be honest. I wish to see you in a role I have previously been unable to observe. The idea is… uniquely alluring. If you are absolutely certain you will not feel ashamed, I wish to proceed.”

Kathryn’s stomach tried to claw its way up her throat and she forced herself to take a calming swallow. “Very well,” she whispered, lifting Seven’s head so she could kiss the blonde. “If anything makes you uncomfortable, use your safe word and I will put a stop to it. Anything at all.” She intended to brief Diyoza on Seven’s safe word as well and let the colonel know that Seven retained the authority to halt everything, but the first step was reminding Seven that she had one and could use it.

“Yes, Captain,” Seven said, a bit breathless after the kiss. “ _Satis_. You have my assurances that I will communicate if I become uncomfortable with anything.”

“I don’t think there will be any sex involved, but if there is, I’d like your thoughts on that before we head to my quarters.”

Seven’s hands went from her back to her waist. “I have no objections,” she stated. “As badly as I wish to touch you, Captain, and as skilled as I am at adapting, the fact is that I have never touched another person in a sexual manner and I am not opposed to firsthand learning from an experienced source. Judging from what I have seen of her personality, I do not feel that Colonel Diyoza would object if I were to request a verbal narrative.”

Kathryn nearly choked. “Oh,” she stuttered out, her face bright red, shock coursing through her. What in the actual _fuck_. “That’s, uh…”

“Captain, you are stuttering. Do _you_ object?”

 _Did_ she object? She wasn’t entirely sure. “I don’t know,” she finally said, giving her head a shake to clear it. “I suppose I’ll see how I feel as the night progresses. Acceptable?”

Seven nodded. “Acceptable.”

Kathryn nodded in return and took Seven’s hand, leading her out of the cargo bay and to the turbolift.

The short journey was silent, Kathryn battling the urge to vomit the entire way, and she didn’t know what Seven was thinking but the expression on the Borg’s face led her to conclude unholy thoughts. Was she really about to do this? After so long?

They found Diyoza waiting sprawled on the bed, looking extremely at home if Kathryn did say so. One eyebrow arched at the sight and she couldn’t help a smart remark. “By all means, make yourself comfortable, _Charmaine_.”

Diyoza sat up and pinned her with an amused stare. “Got any Irish Spring handy, Kitten?”

“No,” Kathryn said, though her tone skated down a few notches. “We have sonic showers.”

“What is Irish Spring?” Seven spoke up from beside her, making her cringe. She was under no illusion that Diyoza would spare her any sliver of embarrassment.

“It’s a brand of soap,” Diyoza said, shifting her gaze to Seven. “Your captain used to have quite the habit of backtalking when she shouldn’t.”

“I fail to see a correlation between the two.”

“Tell her, Kitten.”

Kathryn wanted to disappear under the bed or into the bathroom. Telling Seven herself was far worse than Diyoza spilling. She sighed and squeezed Seven’s hand. “She used to stand me in front of the bathroom sink and put a bar of soap in my mouth when I talked back to her,” she confessed, a blush returning to stain her cheeks. She had a feeling it wouldn’t be going away for very long tonight. She knew she deserved it, however. Her ego had reared its ugly head and now she would pay for it. There was no excuse for expecting Seven to fully submit to her when she wasn’t willing to make herself vulnerable in return.

“Was it an effective deterrent?” Seven asked, glancing between her and Diyoza.

The colonel smirked. “Eventually.”

Seven moved into her customary pose, standing at attention, and nodded. “Understood.”

“Before things go any further,” Kathryn spoke up. “Seven’s safe word is _satis_ , and she retains the right to use it at any time, for any reason, if she becomes uncomfortable. My relationship with her is my first priority and that will remain true regardless of anything that happens tonight.”

Diyoza’s eyebrows raised. “Latin. I like your style. Come sit, baby doll, and let’s have a chat.” She patted the spot beside her on the bed.

When Kathryn didn’t move, Seven blinked and looked at her. “Is she referring to _me_?”

A tiny, quiet snort of laughter forced its way out and Kathryn bit her lip to stifle any further sound, nodding at Seven.

Nonplussed, Seven slowly made her way to the bed and sat a few feet from the colonel. Kathryn was glad to note that the only discomfort Seven seemed to be experiencing was social and not physical. Her nanoprobes were really quite remarkable.

“Closer,” Diyoza laughed. “Don’t worry. You’re not the one I’m going to spank.”

Kathryn hid her face in her hands and clenched her jaw.

“Kathryn,” she heard the scolding; should have known it was coming, and she lowered her hands, placing them behind her back. How many times had she stood like this in front of Diyoza, waiting to find out what the colonel had planned to do with her?

Seven inched closer until she was sitting next to Diyoza and the colonel seemed satisfied. “Now, baby doll, tell me your hard limits.”

“We haven’t really used those terms,” Kathryn told her. “She means what are you not okay with,” she said to Seven.

“Did I ask you to speak, Miss Janeway?” Diyoza asked, unimpressed. “I am having a conversation with Seven.”

Kathryn’s stomach clenched at the prompt dismissal and the use of that particular combination of titles for the second time in one day. She noticed Seven’s curious eyes on her, waiting to see how she would respond, and she figured she’d better not set a bad example. She inclined her head slightly toward the floor. “No, Ma’am.” Holy hell, it was staggering to say those words after all this time. And with her eyes on the floor she couldn’t clock Seven’s reaction. That was almost a worse punishment than anything else.

“Now that we’re done being rudely interrupted,” Diyoza said pointedly and Kathryn flushed yet again, “tell me your hard limits; what you aren’t okay with me doing to her or to you.”

“To me?” Kathryn hadn’t heard Seven’s voice reach that pitch before.

“If you’re not okay with me touching you at all, that’s fine, baby doll, I just need to know,” Diyoza told her Borg.

“I had not considered the possibility,” Seven answered. “I am uncertain.”

Kathryn wasn’t sure whether the thought of Diyoza touching Seven made her head swim or put her on edge.

“That’s fine, I’ll keep my hands off you for tonight,” Diyoza said dismissively. “So tell me what I can’t do to Kathryn.”

Kathryn shivered.

Seven hesitated before answering and Kathryn wondered if she was thinking or if she was just a caught a little off guard at being put in charge of everyone’s limits. “Do not damage her irreparably. Do not purposely humiliate her, though a wealth of embarrassment is acceptable, of course. I also have a request, if you are amenable to hearing it.”

“Naturally.”

Having known Diyoza like she did, that one word, in that tone of voice, indicated extreme curiosity.

“As you have been made aware, the captain has yet to let me touch her in a sexual manner beyond the occasional kiss. As I have been made aware, you intend to rectify the situation by punishing the captain. My request is only that if you intend to touch the captain in a sexual manner, you provide me with a verbal narrative so that I may expand my intellectual knowledge to include practical application.”

Diyoza was silent and Kathryn knew without looking that she would be staring at Seven with her mouth open until she found words.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Kitten, how did you get so damn lucky? Seven, you’re a fucking gem. I would be more than happy to provide you with tactical training.”

“Not tact—you are making a joke.”

“I do that often.”

“But your acceptance of my request is sincere?”

“It is.”

“Then I am grateful.”

Kathryn could suddenly feel Diyoza’s eyes on her and she took a steadying breath.

“Come here, Miss Janeway.”

 _Fuck_. “Yes, Ma’am.” She tried not to imagine all the things that could go wrong as she walked with measured steps to stand in front of Diyoza. She resisted the urge to reach over and touch Seven’s shoulder or run her fingers through silky blonde hair.

“Go ahead. Last time tonight you get to make a decision, though.”

Jesus. Diyoza could still read her like a book. She looked at Seven and ran both hands through her hair, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I love you,” she whispered in the Borg’s ear, giving that a gentle kiss as well, and then she straightened up and put her hands behind her back.

“Baby doll, why don’t you kneel right over there so you can hold her hands for me?” Diyoza directed, clearly sparing no thought that Seven might not follow her orders.

“Am I to call you Ma’am as well?” Seven asked, rising to her feet and walking to the indicated spot beside the end of the bed and kneeling.

“I’d like that, but it’s up to you.”

Seven gave a brief nod. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Kathryn fought down a shudder of arousal hearing Seven address Diyoza that way. Oh, she was in trouble tonight. She wasn’t sure she’d survive the both of them.

“And you,” Diyoza said with a leer, lightly backhanding her in the hip. “Strip down to your bra and panties.”

The moment of truth. Could she do it? She could, but her hands shook as they went to the button of her trousers and freed it. She toed off her shoes and nudged them out of the way, under the lounger, then unzipped her pants and removed them. Sense memory kicked in somewhat and she folded the trousers neatly, setting them on top of the lounger. She followed suit with her jacket and undershirt, leaving her as requested, in her bra and panties. Thank God she’d stopped wearing Starfleet issue when her relationship with Seven had gotten more personal. She was in black lace and she felt sexy. Small favors, she knew, but she’d take anything she could get right now.

Time ticked by like a swinging pendulum with no beginning and no end as she waited for Diyoza’s next directive.

“Climb on up, lay across my lap and give Seven your hands.”

It was harder to make herself comply than she’d thought it would be, and only a raised eyebrow from Diyoza that meant ‘get your fucking ass up here now before things get worse for you’ spurred her body into motion. She knelt on the bed and took a calming breath, then closed her eyes as she leaned forward and lay across the colonel’s lap. She shifted to get as comfortable as she could with thighs pressing into her belly and two sets of eyes on her, both with different expectations, and then opened her own eyes to look at Seven as she extended her hands.

Seven’s fingers closed around her wrists and stroked for the briefest of seconds before the Borg softened her touch and gently held Kathryn’s hands in hers. The sensation was strangely comforting even if the position was embarrassing. And this was the tip of the iceberg. That was not a particularly pleasant thought.

“Kathryn,” Diyoza said sharply. “Get out of your head.”

Jesus. Was she that transparent? “Back off, Colonel,” she snapped, already feeling a little defensive.

Seven cringed and Kathryn regretted her quick temper if for no other reason than that it caused Seven to make that face.

“Shit. I’m sorry. I’m just a little on edge. It’s been awhile and—I’m sorry, Ma’am. I’m sorry, Seven.”

Seven squeezed her hands and Diyoza grabbed her roughly by the hair, pressing her face into the mattress. “Try that again,” she said in a low voice. “You’ll be naked in the corner getting reacquainted with your old friend Irish Spring and a two-inch wide plug in your ass.”

Kathryn gave a strangled cry, some humility starting to hit home, and she nodded the best she could with the colonel’s strong grip on her hair. What was she thinking, behaving that way in front of Seven? Why was she fighting submission? It’s not as if she viewed submission as weak or beneath her. If she did, she would never allow Seven to submit to her. Honestly she wasn’t sure what her problem was, but she was sure that Diyoza would fix it. Painfully so.

When Diyoza finally let go of her hair she spoke again. “Being a little on edge is no excuse. You’re setting a bad example for your girlfriend.”

“It’s no excuse,” Kathryn repeated, turning her head to the side, her pulse speeding up at the mention of Seven. “My behavior was unacceptable.” And she uttered the next words almost on autopilot, though she was far from checked out. “Please correct me as you see fit.”

“That’s better,” Diyoza offered, though Kathryn could hear that she was still put off. She knew Diyoza hated backtalk more than anything else. Maybe it was her military background or maybe it was just innate, but she knew how much the colonel hated it and how much of an effort she would have to make to bridge the gap.

“Honestly, I’m sorry,” she said again, this one heartfelt and not coming from any database of expected responses.

She felt Diyoza relax a little. They had always been able to read each other exceptionally well. “Thanks, Kitten.”

Kathryn took a moment to appreciate the irony – earlier the nickname had grated on her and now she was glad to hear it.

She didn’t have long to dwell on any of it before she felt fingers curling into the waistband of her panties and she sucked in a sharp breath, anticipatory arousal pooling between her legs. She made the mistake of looking over at Seven and the intensely hungry look in the blonde’s eyes made her drop her head and groan.

Diyoza chuckled and unceremoniously tugged her panties down around her knees, then gave her ass the first good slap and that breath she’d sucked in went rushing back out.

Ohhhhh… she’d almost forgotten how good that could feel. Of course it felt good on her hand when she did it to Seven, but being the one with a hand on her ass was a different beast altogether. Warmth focused where Diyoza’s palm had landed and spread outward from there. Another slap graced her other cheek, warmth suffusing her entire backside and radiating down to her cunt.  
  
“Keep your eyes on your girl,” Diyoza instructed casually, spanking her twice more before she could follow that order.

She absorbed the blows and then obediently lifted her head, resting her chin on the mattress so she could look at Seven.

Diyoza spanked her harder, about a dozen swats in a row to the underside of her cheeks and the tops of her thighs that left her panting for breath, eyes trying to close, but she forced them open, holding Seven’s gaze. Well, that was decidedly erotic – looking into Seven’s eyes while she was being spanked.

“Talk to her,” Diyoza said casually, though Kathryn knew it was not a suggestion.

“Wha—about what?” she gasped, unable to believe she was supposed to hold enough focus to speak to her lover.

“About why you ended up in this situation,” Diyoza snorted. “Explain yourself. She deserves an explanation.”

“I can’t while I’m being—while you’re—” She gritted her teeth at a particularly harsh slap across the middle of her stinging bottom. “While you’re spanking me,” she finished.

“That’s too bad, because if you haven’t given her an acceptable explanation by the time I’m done with my hand, I’ll figure out how to get ahold of a hairbrush.”

“Jesus Christ,” Kathryn muttered, turning her head to bite her arm but keeping her eyes on Seven. She wasn’t about to disobey two orders at once. “I’ll try,” she gasped when Diyoza’s swats turned truly punishing, bringing tears to her eyes despite her resolve not to cry in front of Seven.

But that was part of the problem, wasn’t it? She was keeping a part of herself from her lover. And Seven had given her everything.

“Clock’s ticking, Kitten…” Smack after smack after smack.

Her ass was on fire now and if Diyoza got hold of a hairbrush she’d be done for. “I’m afraid,” she finally whispered, a few tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Of what?” Seven whispered back, her expression a mix of about a hundred different things.

“Of not being enough for you,” Kathryn confessed. “I’m afraid that once you’ve had all of me, it won’t be enough.” More tears fell. Her backside and thighs were throbbing; Diyoza was no slouch in the spanking department, nor did she have a lack of muscle. She knew her skin would be bright red and hot to the touch. She briefly wondered if Seven could see that from her vantage point on her knees. “If I keep a little part from you, you’ll always have a mystery to solve.”

The hundred different things in Seven’s expression faded down to just a few. Kathryn could clearly read surprise, sadness and determination. Borg determination, so whatever Seven was determined about, she knew she’d be believing it by the time the blonde was done communicating it. “You are many things, Captain,” Seven breathed, tears in her eyes now too. “A mystery is not one of them. Not to me.”

“You’ll get bored with me,” Kathryn insisted, no longer bothered with the effort not to cry. “You need adventure; excitement.”

Seven’s eyes widened slightly. “Do you not feel you have given me those things in abundance, both in our personal lives as well as our lives in general? Further, Captain, you know me well but your knowledge is not absolute. You do not truly know what I need if you think adventure and excitement are more important or desired to me than love and intimacy; consistency and trust; honesty and stability. There is plenty of excitement to be had, of course, but it is in the small things, the daily nuances, the way you react when I say inappropriate things and I wonder if you’ll spank me or send me to the corner or do something else that I had not anticipated. There is no gratification for me in chasing a piece of you that I may never have.”

Kathryn was crying harder by the time Seven finished and all she wanted was to crawl the few feet forward to reach her lover and never let go. Diyoza had paused the spanking to let Seven speak but now she started up again, and this was the part Kathryn knew would leave her aching when she sat down. She almost asked permission to go to Seven, but Diyoza would have said no and then she’d have felt stupid for asking. So she endured the terribly painful conclusion to the spanking, sobbing out her discomfort and squeezing Seven’s hands for all she was worth.

“Isn’t that enough?” Seven spoke up, shifting uncomfortably on her knees, and Kathryn hoped Diyoza wouldn’t rip her to shreds.

“I’m almost done, baby doll,” Diyoza said smoothly. “You’ll want her to remember the lesson.”

Seven squeezed Kathryn’s hands in return and shifted again but nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Oh, but her little Borg was perfect. Coming to her defense but backing off when she should have, and Kathryn could not wait to reward her for that.

Finally it stopped, the throbbing in her cunt nothing compared to the blazing, pounding heat enveloping her ass and thighs, and when Diyoza started rubbing her back, she let the rest of her resistance go and slumped bonelessly over the colonel’s lap, crying into the mattress. It was so painful but so freeing. And she’d done it, she’d let Seven see her submit, let Seven see her cry, and later, when Diyoza’s ship was fixed and she was alone with her lover, whenever that may be, she would let Seven touch her.

Diyoza kept rubbing her back and just let her cry for awhile, and then she heard the colonel address Seven. “That was a pretty powerful speech,” she said with a casual flair that Kathryn knew meant ‘you’ve impressed me’. “I’m not that versed in Borg culture, but I’d bet emotions like that aren’t the norm.”

Seven’s thumbs started stroking her palms in the sweetest, soothing manner. “I have had exemplary guidance in rediscovering and reclaiming my humanity. It has been a long and arduous process, but I believe I have made significant progress in that regard. If I were still connected to the hive mind I would not possess my own thoughts, let alone emotions. My individuality has been nurtured by the captain and the rest of this crew for the last several years. My success as an individual can be attributed largely to those on board this ship, Ma’am.”

Kathryn’s tears started to calm. It was comforting listening to Seven and Diyoza talk like that, and she almost forgot she was practically naked and across the colonel’s lap. There was no way in hell to forget she’d been spanked, but the rest of it could easily fade away as she listened.

“Some time I’d like to hear the story of how you two met,” Diyoza replied. “For now… how are you doing, Kitten?”

Kathryn had stopped crying except for the occasional sniffle. “I am operating within expected parameters,” she offered with a shuddering exhale.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning it hurts like hell but I have no regrets.”

“Captain,” Seven said, and Kathryn could hear the incredulity. “Operating within expected parameters has never been an acceptable response when I have attempted to use it.”

Diyoza’s hand fell on her thigh and she cried out.

“Hypocrisy is not an admirable trait, Kitten…”

“I was just trying to lighten the mood, Ma’am…” She hoped that excuse would be sufficient. She really didn’t want another smack.

“All right then. Up.” The colonel’s hand wound in her hair and tugged until she pushed up onto her hands and knees, then straightened to a kneel on the bed, her face flushing at the realization that both of them could see her swollen cunt. She was almost dizzy with a blend of humiliation and stark, dripping arousal.

“Ma’am,” she said, her voice raspy and broken, “please may I touch Seven?”

Diyoza’s eyebrows hit the roof. “Are you serious?”

Kathryn heard herself whimper though she hadn’t meant to make the sound. “I didn’t mean—” She shook her head. “Please, Ma’am, just a hug…”

The colonel’s eyebrows settled and she was clearly less appalled at that, giving a permissive nod.

Kathryn carefully crawled around behind Diyoza to reach Seven and wrapped the blonde in her arms, crushing Seven to her chest. “I love you,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry…”

Seven returned the hug, crushing her just as hard. “I love you, Captain, and nothing will change that.”

Kathryn wished she could believe that but insecurities were rarely rational. She was afraid that time would prove her right, though she desperately hoped to be wrong.

“Out of your head, Kitten,” Diyoza interrupted in a knowing tone.

No smart remark this time, her ass couldn’t take it. She disengaged from the hug and put her hands behind her back. “Yes, Ma’am. I’ll try.”

Diyoza turned her attention to Seven. “Are you ready for those pointers, baby doll?”

Kathryn watched Seven’s eyes sparkle. “Yes, Ma’am.” She didn’t think she’d ever heard the Borg sound so… eager.

Diyoza looked a little smug as she turned to Kathryn again. “On your back, Kitten. Get those panties all the way off and open up.”

Kathryn literally thought she was going to choke and die. “Oh my God,” she whispered, covering her face as she turned away from them both and started shuffling toward the head of the bed on her knees. Her pulse pounded so hard in her ears that she couldn’t have heard if either of them responded and the sudden tension in her chest was literally painful. Jesus Christ. Why had she agreed to this? And why was she _so_ goddamn _wet_?

Despite the absolute outrageousness of the directive, she knew better than to refuse unless she planned to safeword. And she wouldn’t safeword because as embarrassing as this was, there was something inherently thrilling about Seven’s innocent eagerness juxtaposed with the deliciously filthy nature of the situation.

She bit back a cry as her bottom touched the sheets and quickly shifted onto her back to take the pressure off. She bent her knees so she could tug her panties off and she almost tossed them over the side of the bed, only just remembering to fold them and set them neatly on her nightstand at the last second.

That accomplished with little fanfare, she covered her face again as she eased her thighs apart, keeping her knees bent. Jesus fuck she felt so exposed. Now they could see how wet she was, too.

She felt the bed shift and heard Diyoza. “Come sit next to me and get ready for your first lesson,” she said, obviously to Seven.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Seven said, slightly breathless, and the bed shifted again.

She wondered how long she’d be allowed to keep her hands over her face.

…not long.

“Kitten, hands at your sides.”

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck_. She complied, lowering her arms and predictably closing her eyes.

“Kathryn,” Diyoza snapped, and she gasped as the colonel’s palm connected solidly with her cheek.

Her eyes flew open and filled with tears, the breath forced from her lungs in a rush. “I’m sorry,” she said desperately. She felt cool metal brush her left ankle and she knew that was Seven’s way of subtly reassuring her without Diyoza’s permission, and she wondered yet again what she’d done to deserve such an amazing woman.

Satisfied with the compliance, Diyoza focused on Seven again. “How much do you know about anatomy?”

“My technical knowledge is vast. It is technique and personal experience that I lack.”

“And you don’t think you should just go on instinct?”

“Instinct is one of the human qualities I have not yet developed proficiency in. My instincts in something of this nature are mediocre at best.”

“Gotcha. You need insider trading.”

Kathryn fought not to groan at the terrible analogy, as accurate as it was.

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“Kathryn’s nipples are quite sensitive,” Diyoza narrated like she wasn’t laying there open to them. It was oddly stimulating… and offensive. “Observe.”

Kathryn arched her back as the colonel’s fingers expertly rolled a nipple and gave a little pinch. The touch was gone almost as quick as it had come and she settled back down, panting. She stared at the ceiling to avoid looking at either one of them, but she wouldn’t make the mistake of closing her eyes again.

“Noted,” Seven said appreciatively. “I did not think my nipples to be sensitive until the captain touched them. My own fingers did not produce the same result as hers… or as the clamps she attached to them at dinner one evening.”

Diyoza choked. “How did I not see that coming?”

Kathryn wrapped her hands around the sheets to keep from returning them to her face.

“It was a… pleasurable discomfort.”

“Probably how your captain’s ass and thighs feel right now,” Diyoza commented smugly.

“I would imagine so, yes,” Seven agreed.

Kathryn lay very still despite the urge to squirm under the scrutiny. She definitely felt discomfort. Disgruntled, more like.

“Now, the best place to use your tongue is on the clitoris, naturally,” Diyoza continued. “And there are an infinite number of ways you can move your tongue. Hard and fast, little flicks just with the tip, long and slow. My personal opinion is that whatever the motion, you try to keep a steady rhythm.”

“My internal chronometer allows me to maintain perfect rhythm,” Seven informed her.

Kathryn felt the colonel’s lips press to the inside of her knee. “You’re a lucky little bitch,” she said, and then to Seven she added, “I don’t know what the fuck that is, but perfect rhythm is what we all aspire to.”

Kathryn blushed harder, if that were even possible at this point, and her legs were starting to shake a little. Even with her weight mostly on her back, that spanking was still making itself known and she couldn’t breathe without feeling its effects.

“Now, you won’t find this in any studies of anatomy, but your captain has a few places that drive her fucking crazy. Her belly, behind her ears and the backs of her knees.”

Seven answered about two seconds later. “I have made a note in the appropriate memory file.”

“That’s convenient…”

“I concur.”

“Turn over, Kitten.”

She would have been aggrieved at showcasing the signs of her punishment but she was honestly just happy as hell to bury her face in her pillow and she turned without a fuss.

“She loves being fucked in the ass,” Diyoza said without preamble.

Kathryn made a strangled sound into her pillow.

“The bigger the dick, the better.”

“Dick?”

Oh, for fucking fuck Jesus’s sake. Her face was never going to be its natural color again.

“Kitten, you haven’t used a dick on her yet?”

Kathryn’s answer was a groan.

“Do you have one hidden in the back of your closet?”

“We do not have closets. We replicate our clothing and recycle it at the end of the day.”

“Replicate… can you replicate a silicone penis?”

“I fail to see why I could not.”

Dead. Kathryn Janeway was just… dead. That was it. The dick conversation killed her. And so casually, like they were planning the lunch menu. “You can’t replicate a dildo, it wouldn’t even replicate nipple clamps!” she finally yelled, taking her face out of her pillow. “I had to ask for tiny clothespins with adjustable torque! And good luck getting the specifications right for a harness to put it in!” She was about to come up with something else to yell about when Seven’s metal-encased fingertips stroked across the back of her right knee and whatever she was going to say turned into a long, low moan, her hips jerking into the mattress.

“Nicely done,” Diyoza complimented her Borg.

Seven didn’t respond so Kathryn could only assume she nodded.

“I’m gonna head back to my room and leave you to take care of your captain, unless you have any more questions, baby doll,” the colonel said after a few seconds of silence. “And I hope you’re wrong about the replicator, Kitten.”

“I cannot think of anything else at the current time,” Seven replied. “I am grateful for your insight, Ma’am. Thank you.”

“You are absolutely fuckin welcome,” Diyoza said, and Kathryn felt the colonel ruffle her hair and kiss the back of her head. “Good night, Kitten.”

“Night Ma’am,” Kathryn mumbled, keeping her face hidden.

As the doors whooshed shut after the colonel, she breathed a sigh of bittersweet relief.

“Captain,” Seven said, stretching out beside her on the bed.

“Yes, Seven?”

“I believe I understand how you must feel when you look at the marks you leave on my body.”

Kathryn exhaled slowly and chanced a look at her lover, turning her head to the side, afraid of what she might see. But all she saw was Seven, as she had been before, looking at her the same way she always did, and for the moment, that was perfect.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus fuck I hope this is as satisfying to you all as it was to me to finally write it >D

“You like the marks on my body?” Kathryn asked after letting the moment sink in.

“Yes, Captain. If I am gentle, may I touch them?”

Somehow she hadn’t been prepared for that question, but after a brief hesitation she nodded. “Yes, you may.”

“I believe the metal on my left hand will provide a soothing contrast to your heated skin, Captain,” Seven said quietly, studiously, and then Kathryn felt the smooth, cool touch.

“Oh my,” she breathed, hips shifting away at first out of instinct but then pressing up into Seven’s hand. “Oh, that feels heavenly. Thank you, Seven.” Her eyelids fluttered and she brought her hands up to hold onto her pillow.

“I could extract some nanoprobes and inject you, Captain,” Seven said, continuing to feather her metal-encased fingertips over Kathryn’s blazing skin.

“God, no,” Kathryn groaned. “If I let you do that I’d be right back over her knee, and that’s not an experience I’d care to repeat any time soon… but that might just be the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me and I will cherish the offer.”

“As you wish,” Seven replied, fingertips trailing in little circles that were starting to cause a lethargy to creep over Kathryn’s body.

“Seven,” she said, barely cognizant enough to realize it, but Seven was still wearing a dress. “You’re violating rule number two…”

The Borg gasped and shot off the bed, hands fumbling behind her neck with the straps of her dress, and then she quickly pushed it down over her hips and off. She wasn’t wearing any shoes or undergarments so removing the dress fulfilled the requirement for rule number two and she slid back into bed naked. “I am sorry, Captain. I was very distracted.”

Kathryn chuckled and carefully rolled onto her side facing Seven. For once, she didn’t put her arms around the blonde, choosing instead to let Seven hold her. She curled into her lover, resting her head on Seven’s shoulder, her own arms drawn up to her chest.

Seven easily took the hint and held her, and though it felt a little strange to be the one curled up instead of the one providing comfort, it wasn’t too bad. She definitely preferred the opposite, but it wasn’t too bad.

***

Kathryn woke the next morning to voices filtering through her unconscious, and by the time she was awake enough to discern actual words, the conversation seemed to be wrapping up.

“If I can’t do it, I’ll find someone who can,” B’Elanna was saying, and then the Klingon was out the doors.

She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and groaned at the mild ache left over from last night’s spanking, then panicked at being naked except for a bra until she realized Seven had covered them both completely with the blankets and she relaxed. “What was that?” she finally asked, only slightly groggy.

“Engineering problem,” Seven replied.

Kathryn glanced at the clock. “At 0700 on our day off?” she complained.

“It does not require our attention,” Seven promised. “If you wish for us to go back to sleep, I will attempt to do so.”

“We’ll see,” Kathryn murmured. “Just come here for now.” She rolled onto her side and pulled Seven close, shivering as the motion pressed their bodies together.

Seven gasped, arching her back, and Kathryn realized the lace of her bra was probably scratching the blonde’s nipples.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “Let me take care of that…” She removed her bra and tossed it to the floor, then shifted down until her face was level with Seven’s chest and she gently kissed each pebbled nipple, soothing away the offense with soft, slow licks.

Seven moaned and squirmed beneath her mouth, and the next words from her Borg made her breath catch. “Captain,” Seven panted. “How could you ever think it possible for me to grow bored with you? Each time you touch me seems like the first and I will never become complacent; never get used to the way you make me feel.”

Kathryn didn’t want to argue, and she didn’t know if Seven would understand fears that couldn’t be rationalized away. So she pulled somewhat of a dick move, closing her teeth around Seven’s nipple until the blonde cried out, hoping that would provide enough of a distraction for the moment, and they could discuss things later.

“Ow,” Seven whined softly, and Kathryn knew her distraction had been a success.

She carefully bit the other nipple to even out the sensation, making Seven squirm and whimper and look at her with a questioning gaze.

“I wonder if I’m wrong about replicating that dildo,” Kathryn mused, giving each swollen nipple a sweet little kiss and grinning at her lover.

“You are not wrong, Captain,” Seven said, her voice still a bit breathy. “I attempted thirty-seven different times with different parameters and was no closer to success at the end than when I began.”

Kathryn sat up, eyes wide. “Thirty-seven times?” she asked.

“Yes, Captain. I was most frustrated.”

The implications of that slowly dawned on Kathryn and her wide eyes narrowed. “You were out of bed without permission?”

Seven’s mouth dropped open and she stared at Kathryn, chest heaving with suddenly heavy breaths. “I—wanted to surprise you, Captain,” she whispered. “If I had woken you to ask permission, you would have been aware of my intentions.”

Kathryn’s eyebrows lifted. “So you _willfully_ violated rule number four?”

“Please, Captain,” Seven begged. “There are so few opportunities to do nice things for you because you are always able to get the things you want without assistance. I understand you must punish me, but please do not be angry with me, please…”

“I am not angry,” Kathryn assured her immediately. “Your intentions were very honorable, and even if they weren’t, I wouldn’t get angry with you for breaking a rule, Seven, as long as it didn’t put you in any danger. Slightly irritated, perhaps, but not angry.” Truthfully, she found it adorable. She’d been afraid at first that Seven had just decided not to follow rules anymore because of last night with Diyoza, but she should have known better. Seven’s reason for breaking the rule really just made Kathryn want to squish her, but boundaries were important, for both of them. “Get dressed. Your punishment will be a two-hour shift in engineering.”

Seven gasped. “Two hours away from you on our day off together?” she asked, tears in her eyes as she slowly sat up to comply.

“Wait,” Kathryn said, pulling Seven into her arms and holding the blonde’s head to her shoulder. “I wasn’t thinking of it as sending you away from me, honey. But I don’t want to spank you for something good intentioned and I don’t want you in the corner because I’ll fall back asleep. That leaves me with work detail because my brain isn’t creative enough to come up with something better this early in the morning. I don’t want you away from me any more than you want to be away,” she promised. “But I’m not just going to let it go, Seven. That’s how bad habits are formed.”

Seven pulled in a slow, shaky breath and nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn kissed her forehead. “Go on and get dressed now.”

She could tell Seven was trying her hardest not to cry as she got up to replicate a biosuit. Maybe this wasn’t right. She hadn’t really second guessed herself before, and if she was second guessing herself now, maybe it just wasn’t right. She struggled with it for a few more seconds, until Seven had the biosuit in her hands, and then got up off the bed.

“Belay that order,” she said, stalking across the room and pressing Seven hard up against the wall, a forearm lightly across her throat.

Seven yelped in surprise and dropped the biosuit, but otherwise remained perfectly still under Kathryn’s hold.

“You’re not going,” Kathryn hissed softly, applying slight pressure with her forearm until she could feel Seven’s muscles as the Borg swallowed. “But don’t break the rule again, Seven.”

She saw the relief in blue eyes even though Seven’s expression was predominantly confused. Confused, but there was no trace of fear, and the fact that Seven still trusted her when she’d shoved her up against the wall and restricted her airflow with no explanation just reinforced that she’d made the right decision not to punish the blonde. 

“I will not, Captain,” Seven promised, her voice thready and strained, her eyes still searching Kathryn’s for just what in the hell had changed.

“Good,” Kathryn said, her own voice gentle by comparison to her actions. She held Seven like that for a few more seconds before she eased off with her arm, and her focus was pulled to the redness on the Borg’s throat. She leaned forward and traced the skin with her tongue, then placed soft, slow, sweet little kisses over every inch that she’d abused.

Seven’s breathing slowly evened out and the way she was looking at Kathryn now could have ignited a wildfire. The confusion still lingered but it was in the background, having been replaced by what she could only describe as pure lust. “You intend to fuck me instead of punishing me?” Seven asked, somewhere between haughty and desperate.

“Maybe I intend to fuck you so hard it’ll feel like a punishment,” Kathryn replied, though she didn’t mean it and she smirked at the blonde.

“I am yours, after all,” Seven panted, squirming under her hold. “You would be within your rights to do so.”

The Borg’s eyes were glazing over and Kathryn knew she’d better do something before that passion fizzled out. “Computer,” she barked at the replicator. “One pair of steel handcuffs and the matching key.”

Seven’s knees gave out and only Kathryn’s body against her kept her standing.

 _Chime_.

They were still next to the replicator and she grabbed the cuffs, leaving the key for the moment. She spun Seven around and kept her pressed hard to the wall, wrenching her hands behind her back and snapping the cuffs on without preamble. She tightened them and checked for circulation, then hauled the silent but panting Borg to the bed and bent her over it.

“Don’t forget your safe word,” she said as she slapped Seven on the ass and kicked her legs apart, then grabbed her by the hair with one hand and dropped the other between her legs, fingers skating through already slick folds. “Do you need to use it?” She knew she’d shocked Seven’s system pretty thoroughly and needed to make sure she was coherent.

“No, Captain,” Seven whimpered, throwing her head from one side to the other in a futile attempt to get comfortable.

“Tell me what it is; I need to know you remember.”

“ _Satis_ ,” Seven said without any smart-assed remark about her eidetic memory.

“Good girl,” Kathryn smirked, probing her fingers around roughly before sliding two inside as deep as they would go.

Seven’s dripping cunt clenched around the intrusion – this was only the third time she’d been penetrated, after all – and Kathryn purred at the tightness gripping her. She moved in and out quickly, building a friction even though her fingers were slipping.

Seven was moaning and biting the sheets, pressing her face into the mattress, and when Kathryn pushed in again, slower, with three fingers, carefully and methodically stretching her, the Borg threw her head back and let out a little scream.

“Relax,” Kathryn soothed, running fingers through her hair, stroking the back of her neck as she kept working further in. “You feel so fucking good, Seven,” she said, leaning over to kiss a flexing shoulder.

“Captain, it hurts,” Seven gasped, and Kathryn’s eyes went wide, her fingers stilling immediately and starting to withdraw, only to have Seven fall apart on her. “NO! Please, don’t stop, please don’t stop, _please_ ,” the blonde begged her, struggling against the cuffs. “Please, Captain!”

“All right, shh,” Kathryn said, trying to stay calm, and she stopped withdrawing, but she was hesitant to move.

Seven pressed back against her with a shuddering moan. “Please, I shouldn’t have said it hurts,” Seven cried.

“Oh, you must always tell me the truth,” Kathryn said instantly. “I’m not going to stop, I promise, but we will be talking about that when we’re through here.” She wiggled her fingers without moving them further in and gave Seven’s ass another good slap. “Stop moving. I’ll set the pace.”

With obvious difficulty, Seven stilled her hips. “Yes, Captain, yes, I’m sorry,” she said, tugging again on the cuffs and rattling the chain that linked them.

Kathryn leaned down to kiss her shoulder again and whisper into her ear. “You’re so fucking tight, Seven… is that because I’m the only one that’s been inside you?”

Seven gasped, a strangled moan filtering out, and Kathryn felt a fresh flood of wetness to ease the way. “Yes, Captain, you are the only one…”

Kathryn grinned and sucked on Seven’s earlobe as she finally crawled forward a few millimeters, feeling the stretch. It almost made her eyes roll back in her head. “You like me fucking you like this? Bent over the bed and handcuffed like a depraved little slut?”

Seven’s answering groan was indecent. Kathryn hadn’t been sure she’d know the word, but it was clear she had at least some idea. “Yes, Captain, I—I do…”

“Are you going to come for me, Seven? If I hurt you?”

“Ye—s,” the Borg stammered.

Kathryn gave another slow push, careful not to tear anything, and it was just enough to toss her lover over the edge into a violent orgasm.

Seven screamed again, louder this time, less pained and more of an outlet for the climax ripping through her.

Thighs clamped around her wrist, only releasing once Seven went limp over the bed, and Kathryn had to lean sideways to make sure she hadn’t passed out.

The blonde’s eyes were open, a few tears spilling out, and Kathryn breathed a sigh of relief, withdrawing her fingers with meticulous care before climbing onto the bed and pulling Seven’s head into her lap, stroking first her tears and then her hair.

“As soon as you’re okay, I’ll go get the handcuff key,” she said softly.

“Pl—please, would you get it now, Captain?” Seven said, starting to tremble.

“Of course, of course,” Kathryn said, and she was at the replicator like lightning, only gone from the bed for about two seconds before her hands were back on her lover, grounding and comforting as she unlocked the cuffs and tossed them aside, rubbing each of Seven’s wrists for her. Once that was accomplished she lay down and helped Seven into her arms, pulling the blankets over them.

Seven was still trembling and Kathryn kissed her forehead, her cheeks, the corner of her mouth, holding her close and rubbing her back. “Are you okay, sweet girl?” she whispered.

“Ye—ye—yes, Captain,” Seven stuttered with a shiver, pressing closer to Kathryn.

“Are you cold?”

“N—no…”

“Are you upset?”

“No! No…”

“Then why are you shivering, baby?”

“I am un—uncertain…”

“All right. We’ll just lay here together and not let go,” Kathryn promised, wondering when the captain of a starship decided it would be fine to call her Borg ‘baby’. Apparently Seven had no objection because if anything, she held tighter.

If Seven didn’t stop shivering soon, Kathryn was going to call for the doctor. What if it was some sort of reaction between her Borg physiology and rough sex?

As her thoughts were starting to make her panic, the shivering started to lessen and she felt silly for being so paranoid. Of course it was probably just Seven’s physical response to the overwhelming emotional stimuli of a scene like that. She couldn’t help worrying, though. “How are you doing?” she brought herself out of her thoughts to ask.

“Warm and fuzzy,” Seven purred, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. “Happy. Sore. Insatiable.”

“Insatiable?” Kathryn’s eyebrows shot up. “You can’t possibly want me to go at you again after that…”

Soft lips trailed down the front of her throat and nipped at her collarbone. “No,” Seven agreed, her meaning clear as she moved her mouth back up and pressed it to Kathryn’s as her hands started to wander.

Kathryn went tense as a bowstring, not having expected Seven to want to do this now, not after the intensity of what they had just done. She forced herself to relax into the kiss, opening her mouth and letting her tongue slide over the Borg’s eager one. “Oh,” she said lamely when Seven ended the kiss and watched her expectantly. “Oh,” she said again, stalling for time.

When she felt cool metal skate across her belly she jerked, her nipples going hard without any kind of consideration for whether she wanted them to. Seven’s hand on her belly was as erotic to her as if it were already between her legs. A wanton moan escaped and she shut her eyes, turning her face to press into Seven’s neck.

“I believe this was one of your erogenous zones,” Seven whispered, her tongue poking between her teeth in concentration as she stared at the motion of her hand on Kathryn’s belly.

The blonde’s other hand traced the shell of her ear and dipped behind it and she groaned, unable to stop her body from betraying her. She had already been wet from touching Seven but now she was just ridiculously soaked and her cheeks were bright red. “Seven,” she said, something between a plea to stop and a plea to ignore her protests.

“Yes, Captain?” Seven asked, disentangling herself from Kathryn’s embrace and sitting up, a little discomfort showing on her face as she moved.

“I don’t…” Kathryn shook her head. She’d forgot what she’d been planning to say or if she’d even been planning to say anything at all.

“Would you please lie on your back, Captain?” Seven whispered, as if she were afraid that a normal voice volume would shatter the moment. She may have been right.

Kathryn put her hands over her face but did as requested, rolling to her back, giving a cry of protest when Seven took the blankets away. When she realized she was reaching for them she dropped her hands to her sides. She could do this. Seven loved her. Seven gave all of herself with no caveats. She could do this.

She had to rethink her resolve when Seven put a leg over her and straddled her thighs… As the blonde lowered herself down, Kathryn could feel the heat still coming from her lover’s cunt. And Seven was still wet. Oh, fuck. No, she couldn’t do this. She parted her lips, intending to speak, to put a stop to this, but was unable to utter the words because two of Seven’s fingers instantly slipped into her mouth and pressed down firmly on her tongue.

She ended up muttering some muffled nonsense as her hips jerked and her hands wound tightly in the sheets. Jesus fucking Christ. The world stopped for a split second, suspended into nothingness, and when Seven refused to give an inch, Kathryn closed her mouth and sucked.

Her vision was a little glossy but she knew for a fact that she’d never seen such a radiant smile from Seven of Nine.

“Use your tongue, please, Captain,” Seven requested, still whispering, still obviously afraid to shatter the fragile truce.

Kathryn’s eyes rolled back before she just shut them altogether, sliding her tongue around each of Seven’s fingers separately, and then she decided to treat them more like a cock, tongue swirling around both of the tips before she gave another hard suck.

Seven withdrew and painted her lips with her own saliva, drawing one finger down over her bottom lip, then back and forth across it.

For someone who’d never done this, Seven certainly seemed to know exactly what she was doing. And when the Borg wrapped a hand around her throat, her eyes flew open and she arched her back, resisting the urge to shove one of her thighs up between Seven’s legs. The hold wasn’t tight enough to temper her breathing and she knew that wasn’t Seven’s intention anyhow. It was clear what her lover was saying: _you’re mine_.

Kathryn gritted her teeth and nodded her surrender, though she knew Seven didn’t need it. The Borg was going to continue come hell or high water, but Kathryn gave it to her because she deserved it.

As soon as she nodded the hold turned to petting; skilled fingertips drawing invisible lines down her throat over and over, and she knew Seven was memorizing every skin cell she possessed. There was something so… so absolutely thrilling about seeing that brilliant mind being used for something so basic. So _base_.

She held still, eyes on Seven’s face even though Seven’s eyes were on the path her fingers were taking, spreading over Kathryn’s collarbones, both hands in play now. Seven’s tongue was poking out through her teeth again and Kathryn caught herself making a ridiculously sappy face, quickly schooling her features. If Seven had looked up and seen that, she’d never poke her tongue out through her teeth again and that would be an unjustifiable loss.

Her thought pattern was interrupted by palms smoothing over her breasts and she yelped in surprise, pressing up into the touch. “Fuck,” she breathed, her hands leaving the sheets to wind into her hair.

Seven’s touch was exploratory but thorough, and it was so erotic that Kathryn almost literally could not stand it. Fingertips drew along the underside of her breasts, then came together in the middle to trap her nipples and gently roll them, both with the exact same amount of pressure. That internal chronometer was really something.

“Ohh,” she gasped, throwing her head to the side when Seven’s touch became firmer, fingertips plucking repeatedly at her nipples, stiffening them to excess, and then she _pinched_. “Aah!”

There was no apology, but truthfully she didn’t expect one. Not in this setting. Seven was singularly focused.

“I enjoy the way your nipples feel under my palms more than under my fingertips,” Seven said in what could have been considered a clinical manner if not for the undeniably lewd expression on her face as she said it. “The contrasting texture of hardened peaks and soft skin is pleasurable.”

“You’re going to kill me,” Kathryn shuddered.

“You are exaggerating, Captain,” Seven informed her matter-of-factly before continuing her exploration, cataloguing the location of each rib with one precise fingernail. “Not to mention,” the blonde added casually, scraping her nail down the middle of Kathryn’s torso and circling her belly button, “if I were to inadvertently kill you, I would immediately resurrect you with my nanoprobes.”

Kathryn groaned and writhed under the touch. The fingernail circling her belly button had a direct line to her clit and another flood of wetness surged. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of literally dripping onto the sheets.

Seven scooted down to sit on her shins, hands trailing over hips and thighs, and Kathryn knew her little noises and any movements she made were being gauged. She was being sized up for the prize fight and it made her shiver.

Seven suddenly lifted up at the same time she slid her hands under Kathryn’s knees and pulled. The result was her legs out from under the blonde with her knees bent, and Seven jerked them roughly up over her shoulders as she bent at the waist and buried her face in Kathryn’s cunt.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Kathryn shrieked, her hands flying to tangle in Seven’s hair as her hips bucked into the blonde’s mouth. She had no time to adjust before Seven licked the length of her slit and she made tight enough fists that she got a whimper from the Borg before she felt Seven’s tongue push inside her.

She relaxed her fists, trying to calm herself down and just ride the waves, but… God. This was Seven of Nine going down on her. Seven of Nine’s tongue inside her cunt. Seven of Nine making the most decadently crude noises from between her legs. Oh, fuck. She wasn’t going to last long. Every stroke of the blonde’s tongue sent shockwaves from the point of impact that reverberated all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. Her heels dug into Seven’s back and she forced herself to release that gorgeous hair so she didn’t end up pulling any of it out.

Seven stroked her with an assured sort of elegance, but at the same time it was almost feral, and when metal-tipped fingers tapped out a rhythm on her clit, she lost it. She needed something to do with her hands while her body shook pleasure through every nerve, wringing her dry. There was nothing so she wrapped them in the sheets again, flexing the muscles in her arms as Seven dragged her into the proverbial den of iniquity and drew her out the other side.

Her breathing was ragged at best as she started to come down, the white-hot lancing pleasure peaking and diffusing, leaving her sprawled bonelessly on her own bed with Seven licking up every drop of come from her body.

She froze with fear as the blonde looked up from between her legs, because this was it, this was that moment she had been dreading enough to keep Seven at arms’ length. That fear clawed at her and brought tears to her eyes, and she didn’t know what to do.

“Captain,” Seven said huskily, crawling up her body to kiss her. “Taste that.”

Taken aback, the fear slipped to the side for a moment as she returned the kiss, one eyebrow lifting.

“I once thought taste was irrelevant,” Seven said with a wry little smirk. “Had I sampled this exquisite flavor, those ridiculous words would never have left my lips.”

Kathryn blushed, but just like that, Seven had managed to find the perfect thing to say to bring things back to normal.

***

After a nice, cozy little nap, they both got dressed and headed to the mess hall for some much needed nutritional biomatter.

Kathryn blinked as Tuvok walked over and stood by their table without speaking. “Can I help you?” she finally asked.

“I believe I have won the contest,” Tuvok said without affect, producing an item from behind his back and handing it to her.

When she realized what she was holding she spit coffee all over the table and dropped the dildo, eyes swiveling to Seven as she coughed the tickle out of her throat. “ _This_ was the engineering problem?!”


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short, but I wanted to get something up, and the next scene should really have its own chapter anyway.

“Yes, Captain. Do you dispute the fact that it was indeed a problem?”

Kathryn really couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that TUVOK had just handed her a replicated dildo, and while she was still busy trying to process that, his words filtered through to her brain and her eyes went from Seven to her chief of security. “Contest?” she squeaked.

One Vulcan eyebrow raised. “You were not aware of the contest?”

“It was to be a surprise,” Seven interjected, leaning down to pick up the discarded item and setting it on the table. “Surprise, Captain.”

Kathryn felt her head trying to explode and she didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. “Surprises are for birthday parties, Seven!” she shouted, though her voice was a little too high pitched to really be considered a shout.

“Am I to assume by your reaction, Captain, that you do not wish me to provide you with the accompanying harness?” Tuvok asked.

Captain’s dignity be damned, Kathryn climbed under the table. She just needed a moment for her mind to catch up with the turn of events.

The mess hall went entirely silent and Kathryn knew everyone would be staring at her, but she couldn’t make herself care at the moment. Movement caught her attention and a second later Seven had joined her under the table.

“I am sorry you do not like the surprise, Captain,” the blonde whispered.

“It’s not that,” Kathryn said gently, reaching a hand out to settle on Seven’s knee. “It’s very thoughtful of you, it’s just…”

“You are still uncomfortable with the crew thinking of you as a human being?” Seven asked.

Kathryn flushed. “Well, when you put it like that I sound like an idiot,” she said with a little laugh. “I know they’re aware of the nature of our relationship, and I’m quite comfortable with that, as you know. But the crew knowing the nature of it and the crew presenting me with tools of the trade are quite different.” She realized something as she said that aloud and she smirked at herself. “Huh. You know what it is, Seven? It’s a control issue. Before, I decided exactly what they knew and when they were allowed to see what I wanted them to see. This was out of my control.”

To her surprise, Seven offered a wry smile and scooted closer. “There is nothing wrong with having control issues, Captain. I am rather fond of your control, after all…”

Kathryn gave another laugh, kissed Seven soundly, and crawled out from under the table, picking up the dildo. “Right, then. Where’s the harness?” she asked Tuvok, holding out her other hand.

“Um,” Tom Paris spoke up from the next table. “Your little powwow down there wasn’t a negotiation to use it right now, was it? Because B’Elanna would probably kill me, but I’m not done with my lunch…”

“No!” Kathryn snorted, throwing him an amused glance over her shoulder as Seven came out from under the table, blushing. She turned back to Tuvok and shook her outstretched hand for emphasis. “The harness, Mr. Tuvok?”

He handed it over wordlessly.

“Incidentally, what did you win?”

“Replicator rations and holodeck hours,” Tuvok replied.

“Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander,” she said with another little snort.

Diyoza chose that moment to enter the mess hall and Kathryn fought the urge to hide the items in her hands. Instead, she waved them at the colonel. “Did you know about this?”

“I just woke up. Had an exhausting night,” Diyoza replied without missing a beat. “Hey, you replicated a dick!”

“I did no such thing,” Kathryn smirked. “Apparently there was a contest going on. My little Borg tried thirty-seven times and was unsuccessful so she recruited the rest of the crew, and voila.”

She didn’t miss the sour expression on Seven’s face at the mention of her failure.

“Who won?”

Kathryn pursed her lips in an effort not to laugh. “Lieutenant Commander Tuvok.”

Diyoza made no such effort, laughing as she slung an arm around Tuvok’s shoulders. “Tuvie, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Please refrain from referring to me in such a manner, Colonel.”

“Only the wife’s allowed to call you that, huh?”

Tuvok sidestepped her embrace and stood stoically as he replied. “Had my wife ever used such an abhorrent form of address, she would have been immediately across my knee and never repeated the offense.”

Tom Paris literally choked on his sandwich and Neelix ended up having to give him the Heimlich maneuver.

Tuvok appraised the situation and his eyebrow raised again. “To think… all that was required to choke Mr. Paris was to reveal a measure of personal information.”

“You’re welcome,” Diyoza said, patting him on the back and taking a seat at Kathryn and Seven’s table. “Good morning, ladies.”

“It is the middle of the afternoon,” Seven pointed out as she sat back down to finish her lunch.

Kathryn followed suit, hiding a grin at the Borg’s response. “Good afternoon, Colonel,” she managed to say without looking smug.

“Is the middle of the afternoon a good time for a Borg to get bent over a table in the mess hall and spanked for being a smart ass?” Diyoza asked, plucking a tomato from Seven’s salad and grinning as she put it in her mouth. “What do you think, Kitten?”

Kathryn enjoyed the petulant expression on Seven’s face and wondered whether it was a result of Diyoza’s teasing or the tomato theft. “She can’t help the urge for things to be accurate,” she said, reaching across the table to hold Seven’s hand. “It’s innate. She wasn’t actually being a smart ass.”

Seven’s subtle little smirk said otherwise, though, and Kathryn nudged her ankle under the table.

Diyoza stole another tomato and Seven made an anguished sound, pushing her salad in front of the colonel.

“Thanks, baby doll,” Diyoza said with a wink at the blonde.

“Come sit on my side, Seven,” Kathryn spoke up, and when Seven complied she speared some of her own salad with her fork and held it to her lover’s mouth.

A very strong metal-infused hand gripped Kathryn’s trousers like a vise as the Borg opened her mouth to accept the offered food. She knew Seven liked it when she fed her, and besides that, she didn’t want her lover going hungry.

Diyoza eyed them for a minute, took a bite of salad, and when she swallowed, the look on her face told Kathryn she was about to say something revealing.

“The first time I tried to feed your captain like that…”

 _Oh, God_.

“… she bit me.”

That had not been Kathryn’s finest moment. “I paid dearly for it and we don’t need to discuss it,” she said quietly in a rush, feeding Seven another bite of salad so the blonde wouldn’t speak. She realized too late that her vehement reaction was tantamount to bleeding in front of a shark. She should have just laughed it off.

“Clean through my skin,” Diyoza kept on as if she hadn’t even spoken. The colonel held out her right hand so Seven could see the scar and then continued eating, speaking between bites. “I had to get three stitches.”

Kathryn’s cheeks were burning and she wished Diyoza had picked literally _any other_ story to tell. She was still ashamed of that moment after all these years.

“You know what, though, baby doll?” She was speaking to Seven but looking at Kathryn. “I deserved it.”

“What?” Kathryn asked, eyes going wide, locked on the colonel’s, her hand pausing halfway to Seven’s mouth.

“You were new to the scene and I was being a pompous asshole, throwing my weight around. I knew you didn’t want to take things public at the time and I pushed you anyway.”

“But you never said…” Kathryn could only stare, trying to make sense of the sudden confession.

“What is it they say? Absence makes the heart grow fonder or some shit like that? I’ve had a lot of time to think about things,” Diyoza said with a shrug, looking away for a minute before her eyes found Kathryn’s again. “I’m sorry I did that to you, Kitten.”

Kathryn was blown away by the faint pink tint to Diyoza’s cheeks and all she could make herself do at the moment was nod.

“And I’m sorry I never told you I was wrong. It was a little harder for me to admit things like that back in the day.”

“Well you were—you were—you had—” She stopped and shook her head. “Thank you,” she said instead. Sometimes simple was the best way to go.

Diyoza nodded and chomped noisily on a crouton, and the moment passed. “I take it you like your captain feeding you, though?” she asked Seven a minute later.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Seven said quietly, making Kathryn shiver.

“I hear repairs are moving like clockwork,” Diyoza segued suddenly. “I’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow, it looks like.”

Kathryn didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. “I don’t suppose you’d—” She looked around and lowered her voice, leaning forward over the table. “I don’t suppose you’d like to give Seven some tactical training with a strap-on?”

The only sign that Kathryn’s words had affected her was the split-second pausing of her jaw as she chewed her food. Everything else about her screamed casual. “I could probably be persuaded.”

“You mentioned a hairbrush last night,” Seven spoke up. “I would like to feel it.”

“Jesus, Seven, no you wouldn’t!” Kathryn hissed with a cringe.

Diyoza stood up and crooked her finger at them both. “Let’s discuss this somewhere else. Your place or mine?” But she was already walking out of the mess hall without waiting for an answer.

Kathryn shoved an incredibly large bite of salad into her mouth before following Diyoza and tugging Seven along with her.


	27. Chapter 27

Still slightly reeling from Diyoza’s unexpected apology, Kathryn wasn’t really paying attention to what Seven and Diyoza were talking about as they walked. “Wait,” she said, stopping them in the middle of the corridor. “Whose quarters did we decide on?”

“Distracted, Kitten?” Diyoza asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Captain,” Seven said, laying a hand on her arm. “Perhaps a better choice would be Ensign Paris’s holodeck program?”

Kathryn blinked at her. “The one he replaced my beach with?”

“Precisely, Captain.”

“Oh my,” Kathryn said, possibilities flashing through her brain at lightning speed.

“Is that… approval?” Seven asked, squeezing her arm.

“It’s an interesting idea. I’m sure Colonel Diyoza would be most pleased,” she said with a chuckle. “All right. Holodeck Two, then.”

“Ensign Paris will need to alter the program again, assuming he followed orders to correct it.”

Kathryn tapped her combadge. “Mr. Paris to Holodeck Two,” she said as she steered them toward the turbolift. “Deck Six,” she told the computer.

 _Chime_. “Can I finish my lunch first, Captain?”

“No.” That was Seven.

 _Chime_. “Last time I checked, I didn’t answer to you…”

“Lieutenant Torres?” Seven again.

 _Chime_. “Go help my BFF, Tom. I’m sure Neelix can babysit your sandwich.”

 _Chime_. “How do you know I’m having a sandwich?”

 _Chime_. “Are you kidding? Half the ship is already talking about your little choking episode.”

Kathryn tapped her badge and cleared her throat. “Wrap it up. Holodeck Two, Mr. Paris. Now.”

The turbolift stopped and Diyoza spoke up as they headed for the holodeck. “What program is this, exactly?” Kathryn knew the colonel was only aware of holodecks insofar as she had shared her experiences on them. Diyoza had never been on one because she was never in Starfleet. And sneaking your domme onto Starfleet property and into one of the holodecks was not something either of them had wanted to risk at the time. They’d had plenty of places to go on Earth that had suited their needs just fine.

“I tried to take Seven for a romantic evening on the beach awhile back only to find that Mr. Paris had changed the program to a dungeon.”

Diyoza spluttered out a laugh and leaned one arm on the wall, dropping her forehead onto it. “I can picture your reaction, Kitten. Oh, I wish I’d seen that.” And then suddenly she stopped laughing and straightened up. “Wait. You’re making him recreate a dungeon for us to use?”

Seven grinned at the colonel and before Kathryn could say anything, the blonde said wryly, “you’re welcome.”

“Taking a page out of the colonel’s book, are we?” Kathryn asked, amusement dancing across her face as she gave Seven a solid swat on the ass and then pulled her in for a kiss.

Tom showed up a few minutes later looking disgruntled. “What’s so important that you’re trying to starve me?”

Diyoza backhanded him lightly in the stomach. “You’re not starving, Tommy.”

“Did you just call me fat?” Tom asked, jaw dropping.

“No…”

Kathryn stepped in before that could escalate. “The dungeon, Mr. Paris. Reinstate it, if you would?”

His jaw closed as he shifted his focus from the colonel to her. “Now Captain, you explicitly stated that if I ever fucked with any of your holodeck programs ag—”

“Mr. Paris,” Kathryn interrupted him. “That’s an order.”

His smirk was too happy to be annoying as he turned to the controls to do as she asked.

“Oh, but make the walls and floor polished marble instead of stone.”

He turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Anything else, your highness? A crown, perhaps, or maybe a throne?”

“I’ll take a crown.”

Fucking Diyoza.

“ _No_ , Mr. Paris. We can make content changes once we’re inside, I simply do not want to make any structural changes while the program is active.”

“As you wish, your highness,” he said with a sweeping bow, then presumably made the requested changes and stepped out of the way. “Should be good to go, but if you need anything while you’re inside, please do my relationship a favor and call B’Elanna instead.”

Kathryn snorted. “At ease, Mr. Paris. We’ll be fine. Enjoy the rest of your lunch.”

“For someone who wished to see me spanked, you are certainly quite the prude,” Seven said in parting as Tom started to head back to the turbolift. He paused in his stride, but ultimately just shook his head and kept walking.

“Your crew certainly seems… tolerant,” Diyoza said once the turbolift doors whooshed shut behind him.

“Being stranded out here has made us more like a family than a crew in some ways,” Kathryn replied thoughtfully. She almost asked how Diyoza had gotten to the Delta Quadrant, but honestly she didn’t want to get into that when they were about to enter a dungeon. “Computer, activate program Janeway Alpha Epsilon Six.”

“ _Janeway Alpha Epsilon Six activated. Enter when ready_.”

Kathryn took a slow, deep breath, hoping Tom hadn’t done something fuckerous, and stepped forward to engage the doors. They slid open to reveal a classier version of the stone dungeon she’d seen before. White polished marble walls gleamed pristinely and he’d made the floor black. The contrast was jarring in the best of ways. A few dozen implements hung from silver hooks inlaid along the walls, some at eye level and some at waist level in parallel rows. There was a bed in an alcove off to the left in the far back, there was a wrought iron cage—two, actually. One upright and one shorter but longer. He had thoughtfully placed a St. Andrew’s Cross in the center of the room, complete with eye bolts at each edge. How much research had he done before he fucked with her beach originally? Jesus. She couldn’t help wondering what her blood would look like on the walls.

Speaking of blood, there was no dermal regenerator, at least not that she could see. There was an empty cart to her right, a good place to put a few safeguards. “Computer, place a dermal regenerator, a pair of bolt cutters and a pair of medical scissors on the instrument cart.”

Little dots of matter blinked to life and formed into the items she’d requested.

“Computer, place a black velvet sofa five feet in length against the east wall.”

As the sofa slowly appeared, Diyoza gave a low whistle. “Holy fucking shit, Kitten. I need a holodeck. Can I make things too?”

“Computer, establish voice commands for Colonel Charmaine Diyoza.” She looked at Diyoza. “Repeat your name.”

“Colonel Charmaine Diyoza.”

“ _Voice pattern established. Voice commands active_.”

“Now you can,” Kathryn said with a grin.

“Does it have literary knowledge?”

“It should.”

“Computer, place Queen Guinivere’s crown in my right hand.”

The air around her hand shimmered and when it faded she was holding an Arthurian-era crown, which she looked over briefly and then placed on her head. “Yes? No?” she asked her captive audience.

Seven, who had been observing quietly at Kathryn’s side, tilted her head as she regarded the colonel. “While attractive, I do not believe it to be an accurate representation of your personality. Perhaps if you were to add some barbed wire…”

Diyoza barked out a laugh. “Computer, get rid of the crown.”

“ _Please restate your request_.”

“You have to say ‘delete’,” Kathryn told her. “Computer, delete crown.”

Diyoza nodded as the crown disappeared. “Good to know.” She walked slowly over and sat on the sofa, stretching her arms across the back of it. “So let’s get to it. Are the hard limits the same as last night?”

“Mine are the same as always, but I believe Seven’s may have changed,” Kathryn replied.

“Lay it on me, baby doll,” Diyoza said as she turned her eyes to the blonde.

Seven was clearly unfamiliar with that phrase but she seemed to be able to piece its meaning together from context. “Last night I was uncertain whether I wished to allow you to touch me. Tonight I wish to allow you to do as you please.”

“Within reason,” Kathryn squeaked. “Don’t give her carte blanche, Seven, please trust me on that one…”

Diyoza’s laugh sounded more like a cackle and Kathryn felt her knees go a little weak. “Kitten, please. I know who she belongs to. I have no intention of busting out branding irons and tattoo guns. Relax.”

Kathryn did relax at the assurance even as the dismissive tone made her blush. She should have known better. And besides… Seven’s consent was her own to give; _that_ didn’t belong to Kathryn. “I’m sorry,” she said, almost a sigh. “Even after all this time I get a little nervous.” She realized as she looked down that she was still holding the dildo and harness, and she stepped forward toward the sofa, holding the items out to Diyoza. “I should probably give you these.”

Diyoza dropped them on the cushion next to her. “Get it on me,” she said, replacing her arm over the back of the sofa.

If Kathryn took a moment to survey the whole picture, Diyoza really did look like a queen on that plush velvet couch, arms stretched out like she was in a hot tub at the Playboy mansion. “Get the… are you going to take your pants off?”

One eyebrow crawled upward. “Why would I do that? I have two perfectly capable little bitches who can do just as good a job as I could.”

Seven didn’t question whether Diyoza was referring to her this time, she merely moved forward to help Kathryn and waited for her captain’s directive.

Kathryn’s breath faltered and she picked up the harness. “Undo her pants,” she told Seven, and as Seven slid to her knees and leaned forward to comply, Kathryn’s libido switched into overdrive. She wanted Seven to stay like that and suck Diyoza’s cock once it was ready. She grabbed the dildo and slid it through the O-ring, securing the snaps that would keep it in place. With that done, she had nothing to focus on but the scene before her.

Seven popped the button and slid down the zipper, then grabbed fistfuls of the pants at the sides of Diyoza’s thighs and gave a hard enough tug to get them down. “Would you please stand, Ma’am?” she asked, running her metal fingertips up and down Diyoza’s bared inner thighs.

Kathryn felt a note of satisfaction at the way Diyoza’s thighs twitched under the Borg’s touch. Satisfaction that Diyoza could, in fact, be affected, and satisfaction that she wasn’t the only one unhinged by Seven’s touches.

Diyoza went out of her way to seem put off about it, giving a long-suffering sigh as she pushed to her feet.

Kathryn saw the way Seven’s eyes were trained between the colonel’s legs as those dexterous fingers curled into surprisingly red panties and tugged them down. She didn’t want to be caught staring when it was her turn in motion, and she began the process of winding and buckling and tightening straps until the harness was snug and secured.

“I know what you want, Kitten,” Diyoza said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she stood with her feet shoulder-width apart and folded her hands behind her head, glancing down at Seven. “You ever sucked a dick before, baby doll?”

Seven’s tongue darted out to wet her lips and she shook her head. “No, Ma’am.”

“Would you like to give it a try?”

Seven turned to look at Kathryn over her shoulder and she leaned down to kiss the top of the Borg’s head. “It’s up to you, honey. Whatever you want to do is okay with me. It’s one hundred percent your choice. I won’t force you or forbid you anything.”

Seven’s eyes shone with about a dozen different things. She turned back to Diyoza and gave a slight nod. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Well all right then,” Diyoza said with a satisfied grin. Her eyes held Kathryn’s for a second before pointedly shifting to the floor, and Kathryn understood the meaning instantly, lowering herself to her knees and putting her hands behind her back. Diyoza trained her gaze on Seven, then. “First… give the tip a little kiss.”

Kathryn wasn’t sure she was still conscious after watching Seven lean forward and tentatively press her lips to the head of Diyoza’s cock. Blue eyes flicked upward to see if she’d done it right.

“That’s a good girl,” Diyoza crooned. “Now give it another kiss and then a gentle little suck. Stay on the tip, baby doll, don’t put it in your mouth yet.”

Seven’s cheeks were flushed with excitement as she complied, kissing the tip again and then pursing her lips against it, applying gentle suction.

“That’s it,” Diyoza encouraged her. “Now bring one of your hands up to hold the middle… real soft, just to hold it still so you can lick your way around the whole head…”

Kathryn had never come without being touched before, but if that were possible, this was going to do it. She couldn’t breathe right; it was like the air was leaving before her lungs were all the way full. Seeing Seven’s delicate fingers wrapped around the shaft while her tongue worked its way around the head was doing things to Kathryn.

“All right, baby doll, whenever you’re ready you can push that pretty mouth further and you won’t need your hand anymore. Take it slow so you don’t choke.”

Kathryn watched in amazement as Diyoza’s dick slowly disappeared into Seven’s mouth, the blonde’s hand falling away almost as an afterthought. The way Seven’s cheeks hollowed and her eyelids fluttered made Kathryn’s thighs clench so hard she could have pulled a muscle. Holy fucking…just…even her inner monologue couldn’t function.

How did Diyoza stand there so casually? If that were Kathryn she’d be grabbing handfuls of hair and pulling Seven closer, rocking her hips and making the blonde gag, but Diyoza just… stood there. With her hands folded behind her head, her pants around her ankles and her panties around her knees. She looked more like she was reclining on a Hawaiian beach with a mai tai than standing on the holodeck of a starship having her dick sucked.

“Mmm,” Diyoza finally purred, bringing one hand to pet Seven’s loose hair. “If this was real,” she indicated the cock with a nod of her chin toward it, “I’d be coming in your mouth, pretty girl.” Still she didn’t pull Seven’s hair, she just twirled a lock around one finger and smiled with a lazy sort of indulgence while she let Seven continue to suck.

Kathryn watched the colonel’s eyes lift from Seven’s attention to scan the walls. Not finding what she wanted, she raised an eyebrow at the implements and turned her focus back to the blonde on her dick.

“That’s enough,” she said, gently tugging Seven’s head back and tilting it up to face her. “I believe I heard you say earlier that you wanted to feel a hairbrush?”

Kathryn’s eyes widened and snapped to Seven’s face.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Seven breathed with a shiver.

“Are you okay if it’s me wielding it?”

The Borg almost looked at Kathryn, she could see the twitch of muscle, but then made her own decision and Kathryn felt a little bit like a proud mama, just for a second.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Seven decided.

Diyoza grinned and leaned down to yank up her pants and panties, tucking the dick away before zipping up, not bothering with the button. “You were so good learning how to suck my dick, baby doll. After I spank you, would you like to watch me fuck your captain with it?”

Seven groaned and Kathryn was grateful that the sound covered her squeak. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“I thought you might,” Diyoza said with a smirk in Kathryn’s direction. “Computer, place a wood-backed hairbrush with a rectangular striking surface on the sofa beside me.”

Kathryn squirmed even though she wasn’t the one about to be spanked this time. “Colonel,” she said as the hairbrush materialized. “You might want to tie me up and gag me or I’m going to safeword without meaning to when she starts crying.” She said colonel instead of Ma’am so that Diyoza would know how serious she was, not out of disrespect. And she knew that Diyoza would know that.

Two sets of eyes trained on her like hawks and she fought the urge to retreat into a little ball under the scrutiny.

“Captain?” Seven asked, and Kathryn could read the distress in her voice so she sucked up her own issues and leaned forward to kiss the blonde’s forehead.

“I know I’ve spanked you to tears a few times, Seven, but it’s different watching someone else do it. I’ll want to save you. I’ll _need_ to save you. The only way for me to honor your choice is to be unable to intervene, verbally or physically. And I want this to be your choice, to be over when you say it’s over, not when I think you’ve had enough.”

Seven leaned closer, laying her head on Kathryn’s shoulder and whispering against the skin of her throat. “I could not ask for a better mate, Captain.”

“And I definitely couldn’t,” Kathryn replied, giving her a quick squeeze before settling back to attention. “Please, Ma’am,” she asked Diyoza again.

“Facing us or facing away?” Diyoza asked simply.

Kathryn hadn’t thought of that. Either way would be torture.

“Facing us,” Seven answered for her. “Please, Captain?”

“Of—of course,” Kathryn stammered, taken aback by the heartfelt request but no more able to deny it than she was able to deny breathing.

Diyoza nodded. “Take your clothes off, Kitten. You too, Seven. And don’t leave a mess on the floor.”

Kathryn knew better than to leave her clothes on the floor, and she was pretty sure Seven did too. She walked her shoes over to the cart with the safety supplies on top and set them on the bottom shelf. She took off her trousers and jacket, folded them neatly and set them beside her shoes, then did the same for her turtleneck. The bra and panties she just laid across the top of the folded turtleneck, and she put her socks inside her shoes. That accomplished, she stood at attention, waiting.

Seven followed her example but used a chair against one wall, placing her shoes under it and her folded biosuit on the seat.

“Kneel by the sofa and wait for me,” Diyoza said to Seven, approaching Kathryn as the Borg complied.

Kathryn wasn’t sure what to expect, but the gentle kiss she got was a surprise. The taste of Diyoza’s lips brought back years of memories and she let her eyes drift closed, opening her mouth for the colonel’s tongue when she felt the slight pressure. She was breathing a little hard by the time Diyoza pulled back.

“I won’t do anything she doesn’t want, Kitten,” she whispered a promise, stroking Kathryn’s cheek with the pad of her thumb. “Are you sure this is what _you_ want?”

Kathryn turned her face to kiss Diyoza’s palm and took a steadying breath. “Yes. I want her to be able to immerse herself in the experience, not be worried that I’m about to stop it every time she whimpers. I trust you. It’s myself I don’t trust not to be overprotective.”

“I understand that, but Kitten, you’ll have no way to signal me if you need out of the restraints. I can’t help but think this would be really fucking irresponsible of me… Is there some compromise we can hash out? How about a gag but no restraints?”

“But what if I—”

“Believe me, Kitten, I won’t let you get close enough to intervene. I’ll have a hairbrush in my hand, remember?”

Kathryn would have blushed if she wasn’t so worried about her little Borg. “All right,” she finally agreed, staring at the floor.

“Kathryn,” Diyoza said, making her look up sharply. “Out of your head,” the colonel smirked. “There’s nothing wrong with loving someone so much you can’t stand the thought of anyone hurting them but you.”

Kathryn flashed back to the time they had been at a party in San Francisco, in one of the dungeons, and some random half-drunk idiot thought it would be all right to hit her since she was on her knees. Diyoza had not only stopped him from doing it, she had literally crushed every bone in both of his hands and all of his fingers. The only reason she’d stopped at that level of damage was because Kathryn had yelled her safe word to get the colonel’s attention and then asked to be taken home.

“I promise not to break your fingers,” she whispered.

“You couldn’t if you tried,” Diyoza snorted. “Computer, place a roll of duct tape on the sofa,” she said. “Dark blue duct tape.” As it materialized she walked over to grab it and tore off a piece, turning back to Kathryn. “I seem to recall a time you managed to get a communicable word out through a ball gag, Kitten,” she said, carefully affixing the strip of tape over Kathryn’s mouth. “This is a bit more foolproof as long as you don’t take it off… which I do. Not. Recommend.”

The colonel’s meaning was clear and Kathryn shook her head to indicate she wouldn’t dare.

“Have a seat wherever you’re least likely to get yourself in trouble,” Diyoza said before turning her attention to Seven. “Now… baby doll… I need to know your expectations here.” She sat on the sofa and spread her knees so Seven could fit between them. Kathryn watched her eyes stray to the blonde’s hard nipples before fixing back on Seven’s face.

Kathryn knelt on the floor about five feet away as Seven responded.

“I expect you will put me across your knee and spank me with that hairbrush,” Seven said, nodding toward the brush on the sofa beside the colonel. “I expect it will hurt. I expect that if I behave admirably you may reward me by soothing the sting in some manner. I expect…” She hesitated and Kathryn wanted her to know that whatever she wanted or expected, it was okay.

She caught Seven’s eye and gave her an encouraging nod.

“I expect you may… touch me in some other way if the notion strikes.”

“Other way?” Diyoza’s eyebrow lifted. “What other way?”

Kathryn could see Seven’s cheeks turn red. “In a sexual manner,” the blonde said softly.

“Do you want that from me?”

“I… am unaccustomed to wanting such a thing from anyone besides the captain, but yes, Ma’am, I—I do wish for you to touch me in a sexual manner if it does not aggrieve you or the captain.”

“Baby doll, anyone aggrieved by the thought of fucking you is missing a brain and a pair of eyes,” Diyoza scoffed. “As for your captain, she’s given you leave to ask for whatever you want.”

“Captain, is it permissible for Colonel Diyoza to touch me in a sexual manner?” Seven asked, turning intense blue eyes on her.

There were so many things Kathryn wanted to say, so many assurances she wanted to make, but all she could do was put a fire in her eyes as she very deliberately nodded.

Seven’s posture relaxed infinitesimally so Kathryn knew the Borg believed her, and that was good enough.

“That’s settled, then. Over my lap, pretty girl.”

Seven maneuvered herself across the colonel’s lap, her legs stretched out behind her on the sofa and her arms folded on the cushion beneath her head.

Diyoza picked up the brush and Kathryn held her breath. She still didn’t breathe when the colonel tapped it lightly on Seven’s bottom, and she definitely did not breathe as the first smack landed, the sound echoing around the room.

Seven let out a half shriek, half moan, arching her back.

Diyoza spanked the other cheek and Seven definitely moaned that time, and Kathryn finally exhaled. Only being able to breathe through her nose was uncomfortable, she realized. With most types of gags you could still manage to get a little air in through your mouth, but duct tape, no. She made herself breathe slower to compensate.

“How you doin’ down there, baby doll?” Diyoza asked after the second swat.

“There is something infinitely pleasurable about the hairbrush,” Seven tried to explain, “while at the same time… it is infinitely awful.”

Diyoza laughed and ruffled the blonde’s hair before landing two more cracks of the brush, one on the lower part of each cheek.

Seven quickly reached one hand up to smooth her hair before folding it back under her head, and when the smacks landed she turned her face to press into the sofa with a long, drawn-out groan.

Kathryn watched, breathing soft and slow, her eyes trained on Seven’s facial expressions most of the time as the spanking escalated, occasionally shifting to watch the hairbrush descend. She was just beginning to relax and let the appeal of the sight work its way between her legs when Seven started to cry.

Her heart started pounding, pulse threading rapidly and she had to double her effort to keep breathing slowly, not entirely succeeding. She tried to stay quiet, shifting her weight from one knee to the other, clenching and unclenching her fists behind her back, but she was about to whimper, she could just feel it.

Diyoza was peppering Seven’s backside and thighs with crisp, quick swats now and as the Borg started to cry harder, Kathryn couldn’t take it. Her eyes were stinging and her vision blurred with her own tears, and she just wanted to make Seven feel better somehow… she recalled the previous night when Seven had held her hands while she was over Diyoza’s lap, and since she’d promised not to remove the duct tape she had to communicate without words that she wasn’t trying to intervene. She was not about to take a hairbrush to the back of her hand if she could avoid it.

When Diyoza paused for a beat to rub Seven’s bottom, Kathryn made a little noise to get her attention and held one hand out toward Seven, palm up, her eyes flicking from Diyoza’s face to Seven’s hands, and the colonel nodded.

Grateful she’d been understood so easily, Kathryn shuffled forward on her knees and reached for Seven’s hands.

Seven jumped, startled at first since her face was buried in the sofa, but when she realized what Kathryn wanted she extended her arms toward her lover and Kathryn took her hands.

It was so hard to watch someone else make her lover cry. It was harder than making command decisions in the middle of a crisis. She knew that Seven liked the spanking despite her tears, but in the heat of the moment it was almost impossible to merge her heart with her intellect. All she could see was her baby in pain and she squeezed Seven’s hands as her own tears started to fall.

Smack after smack echoed around the dungeon and Seven was howling pitifully, though Kathryn did have to note with some measure of pride that her little Borg didn’t kick or complain. Just when she was sure Seven was about to safeword, Diyoza wound it down. Fucking Diyoza. She always knew. She just _knew_. Whether it was Seven or Kathryn, she knew.

The colonel was rubbing Seven’s back, having tossed the hairbrush aside, and Kathryn squeezed again, then started gently massaging her lover’s shaking hands with her thumbs.

Seven’s sobs were breaking her heart. She shifted even closer and leaned down to rub her cheek against the back of the blonde’s head. Now that it was over, she wanted the gag off and she looked to Diyoza imploringly.

Diyoza raised an eyebrow and held up a finger to indicate she’d have to wait a minute, and Kathryn nodded. She kept massaging Seven’s palms, trying to help her lover calm down.

Diyoza didn’t speak until Seven’s cries had gotten a little quieter, and Kathryn knew it was because she didn’t want to be yelling over top of them. “You, baby doll, are a very, _very_ good girl for a spanking,” the colonel finally said. “I’m sure you made your captain proud, the way you behaved, and I know you made me proud.” She wound her left hand in messy, sweaty hair while her right kept rubbing Seven’s back. “I know how much it hurt you,” she continued, her voice dropping lower as Seven’s cries continued to soften. “And yet… you laid still; you didn’t fight me or kick your legs or whine about anything. You are an exemplary young woman, Seven of Nine. And I think… I think you and your captain are perfect together.”

Kathryn was most definitely proud of Seven and was glad Diyoza was praising her at the moment since she herself could not. At the colonel’s last sentence, though, her eyes snapped to Diyoza in time to see one of those genuine smiles that were few and far between, and she knew that her ex meant what she said.

“You can take the tape off now, Kitten.”

Kathryn shook her head slightly and kept hold of Seven’s hands as she moved closer to Diyoza, angling her head up for the colonel to remove it. She had promised, and she didn’t break promises, even with permission.

Diyoza’s eyes flashed with a heat that she normally concealed and Kathryn watched her nostrils flare with the surge of arousal she knew was rocketing through the woman. “Kitten,” she said, her voice low and dangerous, her movements slow, almost cautious as she reached up to pull off the piece of tape.

“Mmf,” Kathryn made a noise of discomfort as the tape peeled off, causing a brief flare of pain that subsided after a moment. Seven was still crying softly and she released the blonde’s hands to run fingers through her hair, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “Colonel Diyoza is right, baby. I’m so, so proud of you,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” Seven whispered back, her voice hoarse from crying so hard. “I love you so very much, Captain,” she added in a shaky voice.

“I love you, sweet girl,” Kathryn murmured. “Are you okay?”

“I am operating within expected parameters,” Seven said with a mischievous gleam in her eye, which funnily enough assured Kathryn that everything was good even more than if she would have given a serious answer.

“Little brat,” Kathryn snorted a laugh, turning to see what Diyoza thought of the response only to find the colonel checked out. “Come here, Seven,” she said quietly but urgently, sliding her hands under the Borg’s arms and tugging her from Diyoza’s lap, settling her on her knees beside the sofa instead, making sure she was steady.

“What—” Seven started to ask but Kathryn put a finger to her lips and shook her head.

“Shh,” she directed. “Stay there.” She knew that Diyoza wouldn’t hurt Seven, but how long her ex would stay checked out depended on how Kathryn could manipulate the environment.

Once she got confirmation that Seven would stay, she went to her knees between Diyoza’s legs and carefully laid her cheek on the colonel’s thigh. Other than that she stayed perfectly still, measuring her breaths in and out.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, probably ten or fifteen minutes, but eventually she felt fingers trail through her hair and she blew out a breath of relief.

“I’m sorry, Kitten.”

She looked up. “There’s no need.”

“Sure there is. Nothing like your scene partner checking out to kill a mood faster.”

“My mood is just fine,” Kathryn promised. “And Seven is quite… adaptable,” she added with a smirk, motioning Seven over.

The Borg crawled over and raised back up on her knees when she reached them. “My mood is fine as well,” she confirmed. “Perhaps if I were to… give an encore to my earlier performance, it would return your mood to the optimal level, Ma’am?”

Diyoza laughed and grabbed Seven around the back of the neck, dragging her into a kiss. “No, I’m still heated,” she decided, devouring the blonde with her eyes and then turning that intense focus on Kathryn. “Do you want my dick, Kitten?”

Kathryn shuddered, her eyes slamming closed as images flashed through her mind. “Yes, Ma’am.”


	28. Chapter 28

“Be a good girl, turn around and get on your hands and knees for me,” Diyoza said. “Touch yourself, make sure you’re nice and ready while I take a minute with your little Borg here.”

How could she say that so casually and—“Yes, Ma’am,” Kathryn said before Diyoza could deem her insubordinate. And of course the directive itself was enough to make her wet.

She turned around and crawled a few feet away, getting onto her hands and knees, listening to the conversation behind her as she balanced on one hand and put the other between her legs.

“I don’t like the idea of slipping off like that before I got a chance to check in with you,” she heard Diyoza say. “I’m sorry.”

“As the captain said a few moments ago, there is no need for an apology, Ma’am, though I appreciate the gesture.”

“How’s your bottom?”

“The degree of pain is indescribable, Ma’am, but that is not a complaint. I find I am enjoying the feeling very much. I am grateful to you for providing it.”

Kathryn wished she could see Diyoza’s face and not have to guess at her expression. “Well all righty then. I guess you’re welcome. Is there anything you need from me right now, baby doll?”

“Other than fucking the captain?” Seven asked, and Kathryn didn’t have to be looking to know what expression came with that smart-assed remark.

She heard a light slap and a gasp, and then the unmistakable sounds of kissing, and she held in a chuckle.

When the kissing stopped she heard Diyoza tell Seven to follow her, and as the colonel walked by she gave a tug on Kathryn’s hair without speaking and Kathryn blushed, crawling along behind her and Seven. The floor was cold and unyielding on her knees and she wondered if she’d have bruises later.

“The bed looks cozier than the floor, doesn’t it, ladies?” Diyoza asked as she stopped next to it and unzipped her pants.

“Yes, Ma’am,” they both said, almost at the same time.

“Lie down up at the top of the bed,” Diyoza instructed Seven. “Stretch out across it facing this way.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Seven replied, moving efficiently to do as she was asked.

Kathryn shrieked in surprise when Diyoza picked her up out of nowhere with one arm under her chest and one under her hips, depositing her on her hands and knees on the bed, facing the edge. Holy shit. That was unexpected. She looked up at the colonel’s face and Diyoza leaned down to kiss her forehead.

The colonel’s hands were back on her pants, pushing them and her panties down just enough to free her cock, and as it sprung free Kathryn had to angle her face away so it didn’t hit her.

“You’d better do a good job sucking me off, Kitten, because the only lube you’re getting is your spit,” Diyoza announced, grabbing a handful of Kathryn’s hair and pushing her hips forward without warning.

Kathryn gagged at the sudden fullness before she could stop herself, which just made Diyoza force the dick in further. Her eyes watered but she managed to keep from gagging again and the colonel eased off, much to her relief. Now that she had control of herself she started to lick and suck and kiss, using as much saliva as she could make herself produce even though she wasn’t worried about the lack of lube. She was drenched. She wouldn’t even need her spit. But she wanted to give Seven a good show and she wanted to please Diyoza.

Diyoza alternated between pulling her hair and pushing on the back of her head, the colonel’s hips rolling gently but constantly, and they built up a rhythm borne of years of practice until Diyoza tugged her mouth away.

“Turn.”

Kathryn maneuvered herself quickly to face the head of the bed and before she could breathe, Diyoza’s cock slammed into her. All the way in. She could feel the colonel’s thighs pressed tightly against her ass. It all happened so fast that her thoughts were ahead of her body, and when her body caught up she gave a sharp yelp that faded into a low groan at the pleasurable pain. She knew she was tighter than the last time they’d been together, and she felt so _full_ , but she wanted more. Somehow, inexplicably, she wanted to be more than full. She didn’t even know what that would look like, just that she wanted it. And she got it when Diyoza started to move.

Kathryn’s hands curled in the sheets, her body jerking with each thrust of the colonel’s hips to where she could almost kiss Seven, but she didn’t dare. Diyoza knew she could take it rough and that’s how her ex liked to do it when she was wearing a dick. Kathryn had no complaints. Maybe later when she couldn’t walk straight, she’d have a complaint or two, but at the moment all her focus was on the throbbing pleasure between her legs. Well, except the part of her that was focused on Seven’s gorgeous blue eyes and the swirling lust within them.

Diyoza’s thighs connected with her ass on every thrust and Kathryn loved the contrast between the hard dick and the colonel’s soft skin. That dick, though… it was pretty fucking big and she wasn’t going to last very long if Diyoza kept thrusting so fast. Her cunt was clenching around the intrusion, trying to force it out while she exerted her own will to pull it in deeper. She could feel it all the way in her belly and the pleasure started to build in her clit.

“Don’t come without permission, Kitten,” Diyoza warned, wrapping her hands around Kathryn’s hips.

Kathryn let out a low growl and Diyoza laughed.

“Don’t you fucking growl at me, little girl… nip the attitude or I’ll string you up and have Seven lick your cunt exactly once every fifteen seconds for the next three hours.”

“ _No_ ,” Kathryn groaned, dropping onto her elbows to push her face into the mattress, getting ahold of herself. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed back up onto her hands. “Please, no, I’m sorry. I’ll behave, Ma’am. Please.”

“Show me how you’re gonna behave, Kitten. Give me a little preview. Ask me now even though the answer will be no.”

Kathryn knew she let out a wordless whine at that. She hated asking permission to come, and now she had to ask even though she knew she’d be told no? Fuck. She should have kept her rebellious little growl to herself. Diyoza thrust in again hard and she almost lost her breath, but she made herself behave and forced the words past quivering lips. “May I please have permission to come, Ma’am?”

Diyoza purred, pulling almost all the way out and then dragging Kathryn’s hips back against her as she slammed in. “No.”

Torturous fingers inched forward and down to start playing with her clit and Kathryn tried to angle herself away from the touch, only for Diyoza’s left arm to wrap completely around her hips and hold her still, the dick buried all the way inside her. “Please!” she shouted, holding still even though every inch of her still wanted to squirm away. Her cunt was throbbing, her breaths panting out, her clit pulsing, her throat dry as she tried to swallow. “Please, please, please may I have permission to come?” she asked desperately, keeping her eyes on the mattress, not quite ready to see the look in Seven’s eyes as her lover watched and heard her beg. “I’ll be good, Ma’am, please…”

She almost burst into tears when she thought Diyoza wasn’t going to answer, but the colonel finally stroked across her clit and gave permission. “Go ahead, mouthy little shit,” she said, the scolding words not lining up with the soft affection of her tone.

Then Kathryn almost burst into tears of relief, but she managed to keep it together, pleasure coiling around the contact with Diyoza’s fingers, sharpening to a razor’s edge and then spreading through her body like a sonic pulse. She threw her head back, lips parted on a long, quiet moan, and her entire body trembled, thighs clenching to keep Diyoza’s cock inside until the intensity peaked and started to diffuse.

She gasped out a breath and slumped to the bed, expecting to feel empty, but Diyoza moved with her, staying buried, and Kathryn let out a cry of surprise. The colonel rolled to her back and sat up, bringing Kathryn with her. She was sitting in Diyoza’s lap, still fully penetrated, and it was hard to breathe.

She chanced a look at Seven and the blonde looked ravenous, like she was about to pounce, but she stayed put chewing her bottom lip and Kathryn was struck with the urge to grab her, drag her across the bed and kiss her.

“Don’t think I’m not still going to punish you for that attitude problem,” Diyoza whispered in her ear. “We’ll start with being denied access to your girl. Don’t touch her, talk to her or look at her until I tell you otherwise, you get me?”

Kathryn put her eyes to the mattress with a whimper. She should have known better than to expect Diyoza to let that growl slide even with her apology. “I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice wispy and strangled. “Please don’t do that, Ma’am…”

She could feel Diyoza’s eyebrows raise even though she couldn’t see the colonel’s face. “The hairbrush is still over on the sofa. Would you prefer that?”

Oh God. Kathryn hated the hairbrush worse than a whip. Worse than a belt, worse than a cane even. But was it worse than being kept apart from Seven for fuck knows how long? She turned in Diyoza’s lap and put her arms around the colonel’s neck, crying into her shoulder.

Diyoza sat up straighter and put a hand on the back of Kathryn’s head. “Kitten?” she asked, her voice gone from scolding to worried and questioning. “Talk to me, Kitten.”

“I don’t know,” Kathryn sniffed, shaking her head without lifting it. “I don’t know, Ma’am.”

“Shh shh, I’m Diyoza right now. Take your time and talk to me.” She felt a kiss on the back of her head and then Diyoza was talking to Seven. “Come over here, baby doll.”

Kathryn felt the bed shift and then Seven’s metal-tipped fingers were resting on her back. She drew in a shaky breath and exhaled slowly. “I don’t know,” she said again. “When you said I’d be kept from Seven I just… I don’t know, I’m sorry, I—”

“Don’t apologize,” Diyoza said, fingers combing through her hair on repeat. “Just try to breathe. Sit like this for a while and breathe. We have all the time in the world.”

Kathryn nodded and tried to breathe. “I—I can’t think with your dick inside me, Colonel,” she said, and somehow it was the perfect thing to break the mood and they both started laughing. Even Seven looked slightly amused.

“Up you go,” Diyoza said, strong hands on Kathryn’s waist carefully lifting her off of the strap-on and setting her gingerly on the bed. She unbuckled it and tossed it on the floor, then pulled Kathryn back into her lap and Kathryn laid her head on the colonel’s shoulder again.

Now she did feel empty, but her head was starting to clear a little without the distracting physical sensations. “I started to panic at the thought of being kept apart from Seven, especially in this type of a situation, and I could have gone for the hairbrush, but… I just… I don’t know. I think I didn’t want to disappoint you… I never really argued your punishments before.”

“Kitten… that’s what your safe word is for,” Diyoza said softly. “If I hadn’t realized something was wrong, really wrong, would you have used it?”

Kathryn held her breath, trying to figure out if she would have. “I would have, eventually,” she finally exhaled. “But you always know. You always have. Even with Seven, who you just met, you know.”

“Well, I _was_ voted ‘most likely to be a terrorist or a domme’ by my high school classmates,” Diyoza teased.

“And look, you’re both,” Kathryn teased back, the pressure easing from her chest at the playful banter and the knowledge that Diyoza wasn’t upset with her. After a minute of silence she sighed. “I’m sorry I ruined the mood.”

“My mood is just fine,” Diyoza said with a grin. “And I believe you told me Seven was adaptable. I also recall you telling me there was no need to apologize when I ruined the mood?”

“My mood is fine as well, Captain, and Colonel Diyoza is correct. There is no need to apologize. I wonder if I will be the one to ruin the mood next.”

Kathryn’s head snapped up, eyes fixing on Seven’s face, and when she realized Seven was making a joke, her jaw dropped. “Cheeky little Borg,” she breathed as Diyoza straight up laughed.

“Ma’am,” Seven said, directing her attention to the colonel. “Would it be permissible for me to bring you to orgasm?”

“What?” Diyoza choked on her laughter and then fell speechless, and Kathryn had to resist the urge to high five Seven for that accomplishment.

“To bring you to orgasm, Ma’am. Or do you possess the same stubbornness as the captain and refuse to be given pleasure?”

Kathryn’s eyes went from Seven to Diyoza and she literally bit her tongue to keep from laughing at the colonel’s blush.

“I’ve just never been asked like that,” Diyoza finally regained her composure and snorted. “You can touch me.”

“Be careful, Ma’am… she may look innocent but she’s got a wicked tongue…”

“Oh, I definitely don’t think she looks innocent,” Diyoza chuckled. “She looks like a whore in church.”

“What is church?” Seven asked, presumably before deciding whether to be offended at the description.

“It’s a place for religious gatherings on Earth,” Kathryn explained.

Seven’s ocular implant arched sharply. “You believe I look like a cult prostitute?”

“Not a cult, Seven,” Kathryn tried to say through her sudden laughter. “Not all religious gatherings are unhealthy.”

“In what manner do I look religious at all?” Seven persisted, her implant remaining arched.

“It’s just an expression, baby doll,” Diyoza intervened with a smug sort of grin. “It just means you look sinful.”

“More than either of you?” Seven asked, clearly unable to wrap her mind around it. “The captain was sitting in your lap five minutes and twelve seconds ago with your dick buried inside her. Yet I look sinful sitting here doing nothing untoward?”

Kathryn howled with laughter at this point, grabbing Seven’s face and kissing her cheek. “She was teasing, sweet girl.”

Seven’s incredulous expression faded into her own smug sort of smirk. “I am aware.”

Diyoza leaned forward and dropped her voice. “I must not have spanked you hard enough…”

Seven squeaked and let out a tiny noise of indignation, then crawled away from them and hid her head under one of the pillows.

Diyoza looked at Kathryn. “What is happening?”

Kathryn tried to stop snickering but it was difficult. “That is what I refer to as a Borg tantrum.”

“She’s literally having a tantrum in the middle of a dungeon?”

“Where there are pillows, there can be Borg tantrums,” Kathryn hypothesized.

“Do you normally allow her to do that?”

“It depends on the severity and the situation,” Kathryn said, finally getting herself under control.

“And when she crawls away without permission and hides under a pillow for being called on her sarcasm?”

“No,” Kathryn replied, slowly turning to look at Seven. “Get out from there, Seven.”

Seven emerged with mussed up hair and looked over her shoulder at both of them. “Did I effectively ruin the mood so neither of you would feel aggrieved with yourselves?”

Kathryn and Diyoza both just stared at Seven, both of them speechless. “W—” Kathryn tried, but ended up shaking her head and falling silent.

“Y—” Diyoza didn’t have better luck.

Seven just kept looking between them and finally Kathryn smirked at Diyoza. “See? Not so black and white, is it? Just when you think she’s being a little brat, she says something sweet that changes the entire picture.”

“You have your fuckin hands full, don’t you, Kitten?”

“Perfectly,” Kathryn said, running her fingertips across Seven’s closest ankle. And then to Seven, she grinned. “You can still go to the corner for that, young lady.”

“Yes, Captain,” Seven almost purred, sliding off the bed and walking over to put her nose in the corner with her hands behind her back.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diyoza's ship is fixed :(

Once Seven was in the corner, Kathryn sighed. She was still sitting in Diyoza’s lap and she wrapped her arms around the colonel’s neck again, playing idly with her hair. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked quietly after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Diyoza purred at the indulgent touch, tipping her head slightly to Kathryn’s hands. “Same as always, Kitten,” she said with her own sigh, indicating the scar across her throat, which Kathryn knew had been self-inflicted. “Two shots to his head, and I relive it almost every day.”

Diyoza’s father had been hiding her from the SEAL team sent to arrest her, so she blamed herself for his death despite the dozens of times Kathryn had tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault. “Charmaine,” she whispered, kissing the colonel’s jaw. “We all make our own choices. It was not your fault.” One more try couldn’t hurt.

“You’re sweet, Kitten, but your argument sucks. I’ll never believe it wasn’t my fault, and I appreciate you trying, but it’s useless.”

“Trying is never useless,” Kathryn argued. “Maybe some day you’ll be sitting on a beach somewhere and you’ll hear my voice in your head and you’ll suddenly understand.”

Diyoza leaned her forehead against Kathryn’s. “Maybe.”

Kathryn knew that was just the colonel’s way of getting her to stop talking about it. “Some things never change, do they?” she asked with a little kick of nostalgia.

“No, they don’t,” Diyoza agreed. “Your tits are still perfect.”

Kathryn snorted out a laugh and lightly bit Diyoza’s cheek. “I’d like to say so are yours, but you’ve been in that damn jacket since you came on board…”

“Are you trying to get me naked? It’s too cold in here for that.”

“Seven and I are naked!”

“Yeah, and look how hard your nipples are.”

“Computer, raise the temperature on Holodeck Two by five degrees.”

“Are you literally calling my bluff?” Diyoza asked, jaw dropping a little.

“I didn’t realize it was a bluff. It is a bit cold in here.”

“I just don’t feel like getting naked.”

“Then you know that’s all you have to say,” Kathryn pointed out gently. “I’ll always respect your decisions.”

“I know, Kitten. You’re a good girl.”

“Hmm, I don’t know if I’d go _that_ far,” Kathryn teased.

“Yes, you are,” Diyoza insisted, lips trailing along Kathryn’s jaw and leaving a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “You’re a good girl, Kathryn, who deserves the world, and I can’t even tell you how happy I am that you and Seven have each other. I’ll sleep easier at night knowing she’s taking care of you. I worried, you know?”

Kathryn’s eyebrows went up a little. “You worried?”

“After you left to join Starfleet, yeah. I knew you’d make captain, and Starfleet captains are legendary for being alone. I didn’t want you alone.”

Kathryn was at a bit of a loss, not sure what to say. All this time, Diyoza had been worrying about her? Finally she just went with simple gratitude, arms squeezing the colonel’s neck. “Thank you.”

“Can I let her out of the corner now?” Diyoza whispered into her ear and Kathryn nodded. “Get over here, baby doll.”

Seven walked over and climbed onto the bed on her knees in front of them. “How did you meet each other?” she blurted out unceremoniously.

“Oh, God,” Kathryn groaned. “Who gets to tell this story?”

“I think we can take turns,” Diyoza snickered. “I was a fugitive and we met in this underground bar off the radar.” She paused and looked down at Kathryn in her lap. “Come to think of it, what the fuck were _you_ doing there? I never asked, did I?”

Kathryn cleared her throat, a light blush coloring her cheeks. “I was… exploring a part of myself that I didn’t feel comfortable exploring above ground, so to speak, at the time.”

“Actually, I think I did know that,” Diyoza changed her mind. “So, baby doll, I see this pretty young thing across the bar looking nervous as all fuck, and as you can imagine, that sparked my fuse real quick. I kept my eye on her for awhile, seeing if she was meeting anyone there, and when it was clear she was alone, my reckless, far-too-bold ass walked over and slid a hand into her hair, giving it a very… possessive kind of tug. You remember what I said to you, Kitten?”

“How could I forget? To this day, no one’s ever spoken to me like that.” She turned her head to look at Seven, a sheepish expression on her face. “She said, ‘you look like you need bent over that pool table, spanked until you can’t sit and then fucked until you can’t walk'.”

Seven’s eyes sparkled.

“Her knees gave out and she would have ended up on the floor but I shoved a thigh between her legs to keep her standing, and before I realized what was what, your captain pressed her hot little cunt down hard against me and said, ‘please, I’ve never—I want to, but I can’t in front of all these—is there somewhere else we can go?’ And I was hooked. I took her to my place and roughed her up in all the right ways, and I guess she was hooked too, huh Kitten?”

Kathryn was bright red by the end of that story, but she nodded. “I was.”

“And now she roughs you up in all the right ways, doesn’t she, baby doll? It’s pretty fuckin poetic if you ask me. You could probably hear us talking, but in case you couldn’t, I’m glad she has you, Seven. You’re good together.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Seven said, leaning forward to kiss Diyoza’s cheek. “Captain, does rule number three apply to this bed? It is not yours, though in all technicality, everything on this ship does belong to you.”

Kathryn laughed and shook her head. “No, rule number three does not apply to this bed.”

“What is rule number three?” Diyoza asked just as Seven slid a hand behind Kathryn’s neck and kissed her.

Kathryn melted into the kiss, making little noises of approval as Seven essentially kissed her senseless, and she almost forgot to answer Diyoza’s question when they parted. It took a few seconds to recover, but she got her wits and gave a response. “There are five rules regarding my bed. Rule number three is that when Seven is in my bed she does not touch me without permission.”

Diyoza raised an eyebrow. “I like it. I should have had rules for our bed.”

Kathryn groaned. “I would have been punished so much more often…”

Now Seven raised an eyebrow. “You were disobedient, Captain?” she asked, clearly surprised.

 _Put down the shovel, Kathryn_. “Not maliciously…”

“But you _were_ disobedient?”

“I suppose on occasion you could view it that way…”

“Willfully disobedient?”

Kathryn hid her face in Diyoza’s neck and felt the colonel’s laugh as much as she heard it.

“Your captain didn’t like to accept things without talking back, at least for the first year or so,” Diyoza told Seven.

“Beginning her long and bountiful relationship with Irish Spring, I presume?”

Kathryn pretended to gag. “Can we change the subject, please?”

 _Chime_. “Tuvok to Captain Janeway.”

“Fuck,” Kathryn complained, getting out of bed and crossing the room to the cart with her uniform, taking the jacket and tapping the combadge. “Go ahead, Tuvok.”

 _Chime_. “Mr. Shaw has informed me that repairs to Eligius IV have been completed.”

Kathryn’s heart jumped but she gave no outward indication. “Acknowledged. Thank you, Mr. Tuvok. Have him stand by.”

 _Chime_. “Aye, Captain.”

When she turned around, she found Seven laying with her head in Diyoza’s lap and she knew her lover’s heart had jumped at the announcement as well. After a reunion for her and an introduction for Seven with so much intimacy, it was going to be difficult to say goodbye. She dressed quickly and brought Seven her biosuit, and the blonde stood to take it. While Seven got dressed, she offered a hand to Diyoza and pulled her off the bed, fixing her pants and underwear for her and doing up the zipper and button.

When they were all properly uniformed, Kathryn felt her eyes fill with tears as she regarded the colonel. Before she could speak, Diyoza beat her to it.

“Hey. No tears. If you come across any hydrazine, or if you ever need me for anything, just send out a wide-band subspace message and I’ll get it.”

A tear slipped down her cheek anyway and she leaned up for a kiss, nodding at Diyoza’s words. Seven kissed the colonel next, then stood beside Kathryn and took her hand.

“If I find any hydrazine I’ll blow up this entire miserable fucking quadrant,” Kathryn tried to lighten the mood.

“That would be a most grievous violation of the Prime Directive,” Seven joined in. “You would be court martialed when we reach Earth.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not a pre-warp alien,” Diyoza snorted. “You would have just sent me on my way without assistance. That Prime Directive is a piece of shit.”

“That’s my governing principle!” Kathryn shouted, trying not to laugh.

“Hey, can I bring that hairbrush with me?” Diyoza asked suddenly.

“It’ll disappear once we leave the holodeck,” Kathryn replied. “Sorry.”

“What about the mobile emitter?” Seven asked, seemingly serious, though Kathryn suspected she was making another joke.

“Oh, sure. Hey, Doctor, would you mind being confined to sick bay for the foreseeable future so we can send Colonel Diyoza back to her ship with the holographic hairbrush she used to beat Seven’s ass?” She ran her hands over her face in an effort to stem her amusement.

“Okay ladies… enough stalling,” Diyoza finally sighed. “Where exactly is the exit?”

Kathryn’s amusement was gone easily now, her somber mood returned. “Computer, end program.”

The dungeon shimmered and faded away until the three of them were standing amidst the holodeck grid.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So here's the deal. I don't want this fic to end but I'm working on another fic that requires a completely different head space and I can't write both at the same time, so as per a friend's suggestion, I'm going to cap this fic at 30 chapters here and when I'm done with the other fic I'll continue Insidious as a series. So it's not over, it's just taking a little intermission before the next act. Thank you soooooo much to everyone who has commented and joined in discussions. I think that's what makes fan fic so amazing (in addition to its inherent hotness of smut and spanking of course). So let me know what you think and this will be continued in a bit!

After Diyoza beamed back to her ship and took off, Kathryn was intending to finish the last hour of day shift on the bridge, but Seven approached her and said something that made her reconsider.

“Captain, I am experiencing a most unpleasant sensation,” the Borg said, squeezing her arm. “I am able to feel my pulse in my abdomen and in my throat, and my heart is racing. I am familiar with these physical sensations but not in this context. I am not nervous.”

“Oh, sweet girl, it’s because you don’t want her to leave,” Kathryn whispered, putting her arms around Seven and tugging her close. “I’m sorry…”

“I do not wish to feel this way, Captain,” Seven said, hugging her back but shifting restlessly.

“Chakotay, you have the bridge,” Kathryn said quietly to her first officer, then escorted Seven off the bridge and headed for her quarters.

Seven followed along, her hand loosely in Kathryn’s, and even just walking the corridors, Kathryn could feel her distress.

When they were alone and she sealed the doors, she hugged Seven again and breathed in the scent of her lover’s hair. “This is the first time you’re experiencing this type of separation from another person,” she tried to explain. “It’s not a pleasant feeling, but it will fade with time.”

“I wish it to cease immediately,” Seven said, her agitation increasing with every minute that passed, and she slid out of Kathryn’s arms to start pacing the bedroom.

“It’s not going to cease immediately,” Kathryn informed her, watching her pace. “I’m sorry, Seven. I wish I could snap my fingers and make it go away, but that’s not how feelings work.”

“Then I do not wish to have feelings!” Seven shouted, the route she paced getting shorter until she was only taking a few steps in each direction.

Kathryn did not want to find out what would happen when pacing was no longer enough to contain the supernova inside her lover, so she stepped into the line of fire and wrapped a hand in Seven’s hair, forcing the blonde to her knees none too gently.

Seven’s breath left her as her knees hit the floor and her eyes snapped up to Kathryn’s, questioning.

“Not all feelings are going to be pleasant, but it’s the unpleasant ones that help us appreciate the good ones. It’s hard, but you will not attempt to close yourself off to feeling, is that understood?”

Seven’s restless shifting started to calm a little and Kathryn sent a thank-you to the universe that the approach she’d taken was the right one. It could have made things worse, but she had a feeling Seven needed to be reined in; to be controlled, as a counterpoint to the chaos in her mind at learning how to miss someone.

“Yes, Captain.”

“The intensity of what you are feeling will lessen with each passing hour, but I won’t lie and tell you it’ll go away by any certain time. But I’m here, Seven, and I’m feeling the same thing you are. We’ll get through it together, all right?”

Seven’s eyes were filled with tears but she nodded and shuffled forward to press her face to Kathryn’s thighs. “Yes, Captain. Thank you. I am sorry for keeping you from the bridge.”

“Don’t be silly,” Kathryn shushed her, running fingers through her hair. “You are more important to me than anything, remember?”

“Yes, Captain, and that causes very pleasant feelings. My sudden distress, however, overshadows all else at the moment and I do not know how to compensate.”

Kathryn didn’t know how to compensate either. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, holding Seven’s head to her thighs.

“May I have a spanking?”

“Not on a bruised bottom, sweet girl,” Kathryn replied. “We’ll figure s—”

“Captain, please!” Seven shouted, bursting into tears that broke Kathryn’s heart.

She wasn’t used to feeling helpless. She hadn’t anticipated the intensity of Seven’s reaction and wasn’t prepared for it, and she felt like she was failing her lover. “All right,” she agreed. “But it’ll be little more than taps with my hand.” She hoped the ritual was more what Seven was after rather than the sting of a punishment. “Stand and get undressed.”

Seven got to her feet, sniffling and swiping at her eyes, then kicked her shoes at the wall and peeled off her biosuit, throwing it angrily aside.

“Pick that up and fold it,” Kathryn said sharply, watching Seven shiver as she complied. “Distress is no excuse for ungraceful behavior.”

“Yes, Captain,” Seven said in a shaky voice, folding the biosuit and setting it gently on the lounger, then picking up her shoes without being told and setting them beneath. That accomplished, she stood at attention.

Kathryn eyed her for a moment and then sat on the edge of the bed. “Put yourself across my lap with your hands and feet on the floor.” She didn’t want Seven too comfortable if the point was distraction.

“Yes, Captain,” Seven said again, walking the few steps to her and bending over her lap, placing her hands and feet on the floor as instructed. She lowered her head and the tips of her hair brushed the carpet.

Kathryn took her time gliding her fingers up and down Seven’s bruised thighs and over her equally bruised backside, then finally gave the Borg a light tap.

Seven jumped with a gasp and Kathryn waited to see if she would change her mind, but she didn’t. “Thank you, Captain.”

Kathryn raised an eyebrow and gave her another tap, making her squirm.

“Thank you, Captain,” Seven said again.

Despite herself, the recitation was starting to excite her. She tried to tamp down on it and gave Seven two more light taps, one on each cheek. Even as light as she was hitting, she knew it would still hurt over those bruises. Diyoza had really beat her ass.

“Thank you, Captain,” Seven breathed, bending her knees for a few seconds before straightening again.

“Is it helping?” Kathryn whispered, stroking the back of Seven’s neck with her fingertips.

“The ache in my chest persists, Captain, but with other things to focus on it is becoming more manageable.”

“That’s good,” Kathryn nodded, giving the blonde’s thighs a few firmer taps in a row that made her lover jump.

“Oh,” Seven exclaimed, bending her knees again, riding out the discomfort before straightening and thanking Kathryn. “Thank you, Captain.”

Kathryn let out a little groan, clenching her own thighs, and before she could react any further the ship lurched and she had to wrap an arm around Seven to keep her from falling. She hit her combadge immediately. “Report!”

 _Chime_. “Captain to the bridge,” Chakotay’s voice came over the comms. “We’re under attack by a Kazon ship.”

Seven scrambled to her feet and got into her biosuit with record efficiency, slipping her shoes on as they headed out of Kathryn’s quarters. “I hope you do not think me out of my mind, Captain, but I have never been so relieved to be under attack.”

Kathryn stopped them in the corridor to kiss her lover thoroughly but quickly, a laugh pulled from her throat. “Neither have I.”


End file.
